Witchy Woman
by Vathara
Summary: Swordspirit, Crowley, and a Witch on the run. Never go gambling with Sano. Sequel to Blades of Blood.
1. Chapter 1

**Witchy Woman**

A/N: As always... I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, NightLife, or anything else in here except the insane plot idea. This story is a sequel to "Blades of Blood", so it's likewise AU and borrowing freely from both manga and anime versions of RK. And now, on to the supernatural streets of NYC...

---------

:_Hungry. So hungry._:

:_Unit will wait,_: the mass mind hissed.

Hidden under rubble and cobwebs, the detached mobile unit waited. Information filtered through its circuits; steady temperature, the low air pressure of a typical New York weekend rainstorm, the uninterrupted flow of electrons through the circuit it was guarding. A circuit that was somehow important - though the unit did not know why.

It didn't have to know. Virus knew, and that was enough.

:_Hungry._:

"Well?" an enemy's voice floated down the tunnel.

:_Voiceprint ID:_ Himura, Kenshin.

:_Current host, Target Alpha operative_ Battousai.

:_Lethality rating: Extreme._

:_Known vulnerabilities: Ultrasonics. Apparent inability to recover from temporary death; enchanted weapon_ sakabatou _instead passes energy form of enemy unit_ Battousai _to new host._

:_Known abilities: Supernatural speed and agility. Heal early-stage Infections. Suspected bio-energy perception._:

A cautious footstep raised dust, glinting in a flashlight's glow. "It doesn't look good."

:_Voiceprint ID:_ Sagara, Sanosuke.

:_Target Alpha operative. Human. Usually encountered with enemy unit_ Battousai.

:_Lethality rating: Estimated, average. True rating unknown due to close association with_ Battousai.

:_Known vulnerabilities: Human._

:_Known abilities: Suspected magical perception._:

"What do you see?"

"Nothing," Sanosuke said dryly. "That's why it doesn't look good."

:_Likelihood of enemy unit detection: Moderate._:

A change in air pressure signaled a human-sized body approaching Sanosuke's position, with no detectable accompanying sound of footsteps. "Maybe you should look more closely."

:_Likelihood of enemy unit detection: Increasing._:

"Yeah, I... Kenshin?"

The host body's voice turned chill. "Duck."

:_Detected!_:

The mobile unit surged out in a cloud of dust and snapping cobwebs, smashing down the weaker target. Odds of taking down Battousai in one blow rated at less than ten percent; better to be targeted by one foe than two.

_"Ho!" _

The mass mind's stored memories of Battousai's fights let the mobile unit dodge most of the blow. It still reeled away from the impact, circuits of one leg sparking and useless.

:_Detected. Escape-_

:_Hungry!_:

No matter what the mass mind wanted, the mobile unit needed human bio-electricity. And all it had to win was one moment on top of the fallen, swearing human, to plant its claws deep and feed.

Knees bent, body slightly twisted, the red-haired enemy unit held the sakabatou's sheath against one arm. Eyes glowed, inhuman amber. "Even were Tsunayoshi still shogun, it would not save you."

:_Statement does not compu-_:

Static.

---------

The two halves of the Virus Dog fell away from his turned blade, and Kenshin shuddered inside. Evil or not, that had been a living creature.

"I would not be so certain," Battousai murmured, still holding their body as he performed _chiburi_ and sheathed the sakabatou. "They are creations of Virus, _hai._ But living? I think not."

:_It moved,_: Kenshin pointed out. :_It decided. Given I now_ live _with a talking sword, I think that's close enough._:

_A talking sword, is it?_ Battousai laughed silently, walking over to where the tall, rooster-haired agent was cursing his bloodied way to his feet. _What is it about adrenaline that makes you so cranky, my heart?_

:_Do you want that in chronological order or alphabetically?_: Kenshin tapped at that sense of scales around his soul. :_You can let go now..._:

_A moment. Only a moment._ Ignoring Sano's yelp of pain, Battousai laid a clawed hand near where he'd heard ribs crack, almost in the red trickle of blood. _There is... something I need to do._

Warmth moved down his arm, tingling from his fingers into flesh and bones. For a moment he could _see_ the flow of energy about the raking gouges, and how easy it would be to shift it back to its proper flow...

Kenshin blinked, feeling an odd sense of _exhaustion_ in the back of his mind even as Sano sucked in a surprised breath. "'Sai?" the agent asked, patting his no-longer-bleeding side in wary surprise. "How the hell did you-" He lifted his flashlight, and caught a better look. "Kenshin."

"I-" Kenshin shook his head, probing at the other in his mind. "I don't know, Sano. He's asleep." The redhead glanced toward sparks dying on the tunnel floor. "Is it dead? It feels dead..."

"Generally when you take out something like that, yep, dead is the order of the day," Sano agreed, opening his jacket and shirt enough to look at unmarked skin. "How did you _do_ that?"

"You've never seen Battousai heal before?" Kenshin asked, puzzled. And then even more confused. _Battousai's never said he could heal anyone besides his bearer. Why am I so surprised Sano doesn't know he can?_

"Inuits can heal. Some Elementals. Sword-spirits - scrapes we've been in, would've been _really_ handy if he could," Sano said tightly. "Especially when it was... kids..." The agent's fists clenched.

Kenshin hid a wince. "Sano, I-"

"And what do you mean, he's _asleep?_"

Kenshin blinked again, taken aback by the sudden shift in Sano's ki from distrust to concern. "He... it wasn't easy, Sano. Like stretching an old scar..."

A strong hand caught his shoulder. "How old?"

Kenshin glanced down, trying to coax out the memories enchanted steel had carried into his mind. For a moment, the tunnel faded into a storm-torn night, blood heavy on the air from black-clad bodies scattered through what remained of a small farmhouse. His arms folded, cradling violet eyes in a tiny face; a small form so frighteningly still as his desperate other-self drew on every power magic had granted him to strengthen life within that tiny body...

_Kenji._

"Who?"

Kenshin came back to himself with a gasp, halfway across the tunnel from the agent before he realized he'd moved. "My - Battousai's son." _A name. I finally have a name._

_Not that it does me much good. I don't know much about Japanese names, but Kenji can't be_ that _rare. Heck, it was Great-Grandfather's name._

"So... Meiji-old," Sano said warily. "And he hasn't done this since because...?"

Wordless, Kenshin shrugged. Stepped around the ruined mass of circuits on the floor, heading for the odd flicker in his ki sense he'd felt just before the Dog's attack. "I think it was guarding something over here."

"Uh-huh. Somehow, I doubt this is Con-Ed standard wiring," Sano said thoughtfully, not quite touching the copper-wrapped crystals spliced into a more conventional cable along the side wall. The crystals themselves were lying on dusty foam ledge duct-taped to the wall, insulated from most harm. "Ruby, chrysoprase, coral, opal, looks like at least three kinds of sapphires... interesting."

"Witchcraft?" Kenshin ventured, testing a flicker of memory. "Why didn't Uramura's people see it?"

"Witchcraft, maybe sorcery, yeah. Looks familiar, somehow. And speaking of looking, Kenshin... try turning _off_ your ki sense."

_Turning off-?_ Hesitantly, Kenshin closed down that extra perception, relying only on five senses better than human.

The crystals vanished.

Unnerved, Kenshin released his hold on ki sense, sighing with relief as the life of the world surged back into place around him. "Illusion."

"Probably what the opal is for," Sano agreed. "Uramura's people would've walked right past it."

"Past a Virus Dog?" Kenshin raised a red brow in disbelief.

"If the main mind wanted them to." Sano frowned. "Letting a bunch of tasty humans go by without trying to feed on them... this thing's got to be important."

"Which means..." Kenshin started.

Trading a bug-eyed glance, the pair bolted back out of the tunnel.

"I _knew_ we should have cleared out the damn inventory!" Sano drew his gun as they hit the basement of Zip Electronics, brown eyes already searching the dimness for any trace of Virus-controlled gadgets.

"It won't be here." Kenshin didn't slow down, trusting ki sense to warn him of the holes in the world that were Virus as he dashed through the cluttered, dusty room to the stairs.

"What?"

"Virus, Sano!" A mass telepathic mind, that had access to whatever any of its members knew. It'd _know_ who had silenced its Dog. A mind that had hacked most computers in New York, specifically to find information on its enemies. Names. Relatives. _Addresses._ "Your apartment's gone - my old one's gone-"

_But Wonderful Things is still there._

_Oh gods, Yahiko!_

---------

"There's got to be a simpler way to run this place," Kaoru Kamiya grumbled, head buried under the counter to find a special order of painted porcelain teacups.

Yahiko Myoujin Himura shook his head minutely, keeping an eye on one of the last customers of the night; a young Japanese lady in orange skirt and blouse topped with a white scarf, currently browsing through modern wooden hairpins carved in styles from the Heian era all the way to late Meiji. Just because Ms. Tae Segihara was a friend of Kaoru's, didn't mean she wasn't as likely to try for a five-finger discount as anybody else off the street. "Last two years, people have been paying good money to keep some things out of the computer system." His voice dropped. "Guess we know why, now."

"I still have a hard time believing that." Pushing Yahiko's shinai and a bundle of cloth and steel back where Kenshin had left them, Kaoru emerged from under the counter with a book-sized heavy-duty cardboard box and a look of triumph. "Here."

Yahiko opened the lid just enough to check that it was the lacquered black chest that held the cups, then set the box to the side to be rung up when Tae was finished looking. "Kenshin may be a wuss about some things, but he wouldn't take off before closing if it wasn't serious." And ever since that night a little over a week ago when the whole world had gone berserk, just about anything to do with Target Alpha qualified as serious.

That unspoken fact lay between them like Kenshin's cloth-wrapped blades, quiet and unforgettable. Yahiko knew his brother, knew Kenshin hated even the _thought_ of breaking laws. No matter what their father might have done in the past.

_Undercover FBI agent - man, I should've known, how could I_ not _have known something was different about us?_

Still, _Kenshin_ had believed they were a nice, normal, law-abiding family. Working for a secret government agency that felt it had free rein to stomp the Bill of Rights to hell and gone because the creatures it kept in check legally didn't exist - no. No way would Kenshin do that.

_Not unless it was important,_ Yahiko knew. _Save-somebody's_-life _important._

And that somebody, the boy was guiltily aware, was probably him.

_Well, me and probably Kamiya-sensei._ Yahiko shivered a little, thinking of just _why_ it was important. He could still see that awful, bloody, circuit-laced mess that had been Pidge...

"Virus will take you out personally if it gets the chance," Sano had said a few days back, snatching a piece of toast from under Kaoru's hand as he mooched off their new breakfast table. "It's supernatural, it's got to feed like any other Kin. Two birds, one stone. But it's also got one hell of a mass mind going for it, and access to just about any computer we don't have real wizards working security for - and yeah, I _do_ mean Sorcerers, on top of the regular geeks. Minute the agency takes the blocks off your personal info, you guys are going to be up a _very_ nasty creek with no paddle and a burning canoe. Identity theft, nothing. Virus can hack stuff to get certain other government agencies to toss you into concrete and steel bars incommunicado for weeks. _If_ you were lucky." The rooster-haired agent had bent a serious look on Yahiko. "Maybe you could take that. Your brother can't."

_Because Kenshin needs blood._ No one needed to say it. The very fact of opaque bottles in their refrigerator was clear enough.

Kaoru slammed a hand down on the table. "So why don't you stop them?" she said hotly. "We haven't done anything wrong!"

Sano shrugged. "You're Crowley. You live with Kin. Far as Target Alpha's concerned, if you haven't broken the law yet, you will." He shifted under her accusing gaze. "Damn it, Jou-chan, I don't make the rules! I just... try to make sure we get more of the bad guys than the good ones..."

"We're not going to solve the world's problems this morning, that we are not." Kenshin came out of their new kitchen with a second serving of salsa-topped eggs to go with the rice; Yahiko shook his head, still amazed at his brother's appetite. "Is that not Zen, Miss Kaoru? See things as they are, understand things as they are, and let things go as they go?"

"Yes, but-" Kaoru's blue eyes squinted in a frown. "Understanding doesn't do any good if you don't use it to change what has to be changed!"

"As the wise man Saiou said, 'We'll see'." Kenshin had smiled then, violet eyes glimmering with just a hint of amber.

It'd kept the hairs on the back of Yahiko's neck straight up for _hours._

_The Horse of Saiou,_ the thirteen-year-old thought now, keeping a subtle eye on Tae as she selected three particular hairpins; cherry blossom, cherry fruit, and dragonfly. _Some old story about all these things that happened to this guy, that all his neighbors thought were so bad or so great, and he just kept on keeping on; 'cause even the bad luck had good parts, and the good luck had bad ones..._

_Not_ a story his brother had known. Not two weeks ago.

_He's still Kenshin. Still my idiot big brother. But... he's_ different.

Yahiko still didn't know how he felt about that. The red hair and shift in clothes, he could take. The sometimes-weird food combinations that ended up on the table - well, he could live with that, just like he lived with the odd bottles in the fridge; the teenager just made sure he never, ever took a bite or a swig without knowing _exactly_ what he'd picked up. And the constant early-morning or late-evening practices were kind of cool.

But there was a hard edge to his brother that just hadn't been there before. And even if he felt... weirdly _safe_ around Battousai...

Still. It was like flopping down onto an old, familiar, comfy couch... and gradually realizing that the odd lump he'd landed on top of was a loaded gun.

He'd tried to explain some of this to Kaoru. Even if it made him sound like an idiot. This was his _brother,_ after all; Kenshin had only let Battousai in to keep him safe.

But still...

Weird thing was, Kaoru had listened to him. Like he _wasn't_ just a kid. Listened, and nodded, and hadn't tried to talk him out of being scared.

Yahiko glanced at her now, puffing a strand of dark hair that had escaped from her ponytail out of her eyes. Gulped.

Kaoru raised an inquiring dark brow. "Yahiko?"

"It's just - sometimes I kind of feel like he isn't my brother anymore!" Yahiko kept his voice down, just barely.

"Well, he - kind of isn't." Kaoru's jaw tightened; deliberately relaxed. "Yahiko. You've met some of my self-defense students, right? You know how some of them are angry, and some of them are just sad..."

"Sure. Real weepy-" _Girls,_ he almost said, but cut it off at her narrowed eyes.

"A lot of them are there because they're crime victims, Yahiko. Like you. And your brother." Kaoru swallowed dryly. "And me."

"Sensei..."

"Violence changes people. Even if they don't want it to." She braced herself. "Your brother found out he can do - something most sane people never, _ever_ want to know they can do to another person. Even if - our new friend wasn't involved - he's not the same person anymore. He _can't_ be."

"But-" It hurt. Oh god, it hurt.

"But he's still your brother, and he still loves you," Kaoru declared, arms crossed to head off any more argument. "It's _all right_ to be confused, Yahiko. He's confused. I'm confused. I'd bet even Battousai's confused." She rolled her eyes. "The only one who's not confused is Sano, and that's because that rooster-head doesn't have enough brains to worry about more than where his next free meal's coming from... Yahiko?"

She sounded worried, Yahiko realized, gaze involuntarily turning toward the back of the store, where an out-of-sight door would lead to the alley behind Wonderful Things and the now-defunct Zip Electronics. Why? _She_ wasn't the one hurting over a brother.

Only he didn't feel hurt right now. More numb, really. In a kind of weird, chilly way.

Numb... that way.

Kaoru frowned, turning so Tae wouldn't see her pick up her bokken from behind the counter. "I'll just see if they're back yet."

"No!" Yahiko stared at his fingers wrapped around her wrist, and flushed. "I mean - they'll be back when they're back, right?"

_Don't go out there,_ his eyes pleaded. _Something's_ wrong _out there._

Shyeah, right. Like he'd know?

"I do think I'm done here," Tae said in her soft, near-Southern accent, laying the hairpins on the counter. "Listen; you have to be dead tired after helping out in this place, Kaoru. Why don't you and Yahiko grab your coats an' skip out a few minutes early? We could sneak on down to Akabeko, grab a sushi plate in the kitchen before the evening snoots show up to run us all off our feet."

Yahiko let go of Kaoru to ring up the purchase, ignoring his sensei's look of confusion. How the heck should he know why the lady who'd just spent a happy half-hour browsing like she didn't have a care in the world was suddenly jumping to get out of here? _Items, price, tax on, check ID, check in the drawer, stuff in the bag, receipt..._

Just as he was handing Tae the printed slip, the lights went out.

"Damn!" Faster than anyone should be, Tae reached over the counter, grabbed him by the shoulders, and bodily tucked him under her arm. "Kaoru, don't ask, don't argue - we have to _run!_"

Out in the alley, something crashed.

Yahiko struggled against the unnatural strength in that feminine arm, keenly aware of Kaoru's wide eyes and raised, uncertain bokken. One hand scrabbled behind the counter before Tae dragged him away from it; he felt the wrapped handle of his own shinai brush his fingertips, then slide out of reach. "Let _go_ of me you ugly - Kaoru, get out of here!" A knickknack display almost came down on top of them as he kicked Tae in the shins; past its wobble, he saw Kaoru disappear into the back, running for the alley door. "Not that way!"

Gunshots.

Out of sight, Kaoru yelled. Something _thocked._

Tae was cursing him in what sounded like three other languages besides Japanese, dragging him tooth and nail toward the front door as Kaoru bolted back their way, her bokken dripping oily fluid. "They're coming!"

_Lady or the tiger-_ Yahiko stopped fighting and let Tae haul him out the door into the rain, feeling as if someone had shoved icicles into his gut. He'd handle whatever Tae was later; for now, all he wanted was to get himself and Kaoru away from the Virus coming through the back and into that oh-so-welcome crowd on the storm-dark street outside-

Only as Yahiko saw rain run down cold, uncaring faces, he suddenly knew they weren't a crowd at all.

Kaoru made a sharp, hurt noise, backing up into a loose triangle with him and his unlikely kidnapper. Tae had let him go; face white as her scarf, dark eyes darting here and there as she looked futilely for a way out.

Kaoru swallowed dryly, raising her bokken to ready stance. "Can you get out of here?"

Tae gulped. "I - _I_ could, but you-"

"Go." Kaoru glared at their slowly-closing enemies, daring them to rush her. "Get help."

"There ain't no help, Kaoru! This is _Virus._ Time I got back here with anybody who'd dare-" Tae shivered, eyes bright with fear. Set down her bag, and cracked her knuckles, steely claws sliding out of her fingers. "Fight 'em, kid. Fight 'em with everything you got."

_Which isn't that much,_ Yahiko though bleakly, yanking off his jacket to twist into a weak flail. _Damn it, I ought to start wearing that shinai, I don't_ care _if people look at me funny-_

And then the world was all arms and legs and confusion, yelling and slashing and eerie silence from the mobbing crowd. Bodies went for him; he snapped wet cloth in faces and eyes, trying to blind if he couldn't hurt them. Hands grabbed; he bit, terrified by the chill, dead feel of skin.

Something stabbed into his neck; pain and static and cold, so cold...

_"Let him go." _

Kenshin's voice, level and sharp as drawn steel. Yahiko struggled to lift his head toward it, cringing inside as that alien static wormed through neck and shoulder. There was red over there... somewhere...

Silence from the crowd. Vision was gray and fading; Yahiko tried to blink-

Darkness.

Darkness filled with whispers like the tread of a merciless army, bearing him somewhere he _knew_ he didn't want to go. Cold... alien... every one pushing just a little harder down on what was left of _him..._

But even as the whispers pulled him under, Yahiko knew that blur of red _wasn't_ Kenshin. Not anymore.

_"Go back the way you came, or die."_

---------

:_And I was having such a nice nap..._:

_Anytime,_ Kenshin pointed out, staring down the crowd of newly-infected Virus with his best imitation of Battousai's chill confidence, trying not to shiver. Behind him he heard Sano cursing his way toward them, flashlight flickers marking the agent's path through the pitch-black store. Farther behind lay the alley, now littered with steel-and-circuit remnants of dismembered Virus.

:_Hmm... no._: A mental yawn from steel. :_Too tired... and you'll need me later. I'll guide. You fight._:

_But-!_

:_Start with "pushing the crowd apart". Sano can watch for artillery, and our training should take you from there-_:

Which it had, in the alley; steel moving against creatures of wire and malice almost without the need for thought. They felt like enemies, looked like enemies; he'd moved with Sano's punches and shots easily as flame, knowing what would happen to them both if he did not. Had left the sakabatou and taken up the deadlier _daisho_ in one smooth duck and roll under and over the store counter, knowing there was more Virus outside his front door.

But Virus or not, they still looked human. _I can't do this!_

:_They're attacking Kaoru. They have Yahiko. They've_ hurt _him. Don't_ fear _your anger, my heart - use it!_:

_They've... hurt..._

The world slowed.

_Pushing the crowd apart. _

A shrug of shoulders and body against two Virus in his path, creating not a domino-fall - they were too strong for that - but a momentary tangle of limbs and reflexes, as the mass mind tried to sort out where it had intended them to move from where they actually _were._ He slid past in that confusion, blades still sheathed; ki sense spread to sense the mass of them as vision focussed on the hand that had implanted feeding-tendrils in Yahiko's neck.

On the hand - and the wrist.

_Battou-jutsu._

Red washed the world.

_They're still human enough to bleed..._

It didn't matter. It _couldn't_ matter.

:_Those are the Enemy,_: Battousai said coldly; scaly armor against the panic a human should have been feeling. :_These are who you Protect. For one to live, the other must die. I will not_ force _you to the choice..._:

But as blood and flesh flew, Kenshin knew he'd already chosen.

_So simple._

Virus fought like a computer, like a school of fish in the sea; shifting and striking as one synchronized unit. It worked well enough - against another fish.

:_You know how they move. You know how they will die._:

_Yes. _

So very simple.

Steel sang. Wood thudded. Claws slashed. Flesh smacked flesh, as bullets punctuated the dance.

It wasn't easy, but it was short.

Impaling a last wriggling form through the heart, Kenshin rose from his crouch and looked about for any others.

:_None,_: Battousai observed grimly, feeling through their ki sense. :_I don't like it._:

"Thank gods for wide-area distraction spells and a damn understanding Elemental," Sano muttered, reloading. "Get Yahiko out of that mess and get over here."

Swallowing dryly, Kenshin picked up the limp teen. _He's so still._

:_They've Drained him,_: Battousai said darkly. :_And possibly more..._:

Infection. _No!_

Comfort touched him. :_This is why I saved my strength, Kenshin. We_ can _help him. We_ will.:

"Come on, come on, out, good-" Opening a screw-top bottle of white pellets, Sano scattered them over the Virus-piles and jumped back.

Green flames roared up.

"You're starting a _fire_ on the sidewalk?" Kaoru blurted.

"This is _Wonderful Things,_ Jou-chan. One of the few places you can get magic supplies and _not_ have to deal with the head Witches of New York. Sorcerers around here talked the local Elemental into blurring Edge-use out of people's minds a _long_ time ago. Right, miss?" Sanosuke grinned darkly at Ms. Segihara's bloodstained nails. "Cute little Ubo like you wouldn't dare pop claws in public otherwise."

"Ubo?" Kaoru's eyes went even wider. "You're a _butterfly vampire?_"

"I..." Tae's voice failed her. She curled her fingers, looking away.

"You could have flown away." Kaoru let out a slow breath, and dredged up a smile. "I'm glad you didn't."

"Well, I couldn't leave a little kid to _them_-" Tae turned toward Kenshin. Stared, going paler than pale. Whimpered.

"Ms. Segihara?" Kenshin ventured, holding a polite smile on his face as he carried Yahiko's unconscious form under the awning. It wasn't easy. All he wanted was to get his brother inside and warm.

The Ubo gulped. _"Battousai..."_

"You'd think he was Lazarus Smile." Sano rolled his eyes, and rested a not ungentle hand on her shoulder. "Come on, lady. We saved your neck, killed some Virus, wiped out the evidence without getting anybody official breathing down our necks... all in all, I'd call this a pretty good night."

"I wouldn't." Yahiko's too-slow breath stirred his hair as Kenshin headed inside, pausing by the counter to retrieve the sakabatou, absently registering how the lights had flickered back on without Virus' interference. Not that it mattered to his eyes. _He's so still._

:_He's alive, Kenshin. Hold to that._:

Kenshin nodded, laying his brother on the small restroom floor. He'd seen what Battousai had done for Sanosuke, it shouldn't be too much harder to do it for Yahiko, no matter how tired he was...

Except - something was wrong.

He bent closer to the smell of blood - gods, _Yahiko's_ blood - mingled with the lingering metal, plastic, and dead-flesh stench of Virus. Nothing unusual about that, no matter how stomach-churning it was. The wound looked normal, felt normal-

_No. Not quite._

His fingers pressed near the circuit-punched holes along Yahiko's neck and spine, tingling with the hunch of _something wrong._ A hunch that wasn't touch or ki sense, but a bare whisper of combination of both.

"Kenshin-" Sano's quick stride announced the rest of their company. "What the hell are you doing?"

Claws bared, Kenshin slashed into Yahiko's neck, barely avoiding the large veins. Touched something slicker than flesh, that squirmed and tried to escape-

_I don't think so! _

The bloody metal tendril squealed as he pulled it free, writhing to escape. "Jar!"

"The hell is-" Sano's jaw dropped.

Kaoru darted out into the store, coming back with a quartz specimen box whose contents she unceremoniously dumped on the floor. "Here!"

Kenshin dropped the metal worm into the box, not relaxing even as Kaoru slammed the lid shut. "Tape, something..."

A _shrrrip_ of duct tape in Sano's hands wrapped it as the agent shook off his daze. "What in all the Twisted Dimensions is this thing? Virus Infections don't look like this!"

"Not that we've seen." Kenshin let himself shiver; Yahiko's ki felt almost normal now, though drained. _What_ is _it?_

:_I don't know._: Battousai's uncertainty was a chill parallel to his own. :_I've never seen anything like it before. It's_ subtle. _If we weren't so much a part of each other..._

:_I doubt I would have sensed it at all._:

A rattle of steel and latches told him Tae had found their first aid kit. "We got to stop that bleeding-"

"Not yet," Kenshin made himself say, despite that frightening trickle of blood from Yahiko's neck. "We don't know if the wound's clean yet."

:_And there's only one way to be sure._:

Saya in hand, Kenshin drew the sakabatou a bare inch. Just enough to nick Yahiko's still hand on enchanted steel. Fine drops of ruby touched the bright edge. Shimmered there.

:_Hold steady, my heart. This is always - dizzying._:

Vanished into the blade, like water into thirsty ground.

Battousai's heartbeat - his heartbeat - quickened in Kenshin's ears, drowning out the room's silence. Yet there was a subtler sound joining that demanding beat; one that skipped and faltered and was so, so tired...

:_Lean on us, little one,_: the blade murmured to that second heart. :_We have all the strength you need. Echo us. Be part of us._

:_I am a swordsman's soul, little samurai. I will not_ allow _you to be less!_:

Eyes closed, Kenshin reached through that crimson thread of magic binding them to his brother, searching for anything that was not Yahiko. Gray threads of alien, of _not-life_ seared at his touch, crumbling away into ash and wind. _Mine,_ he snarled at that dying presence. _My brother; my blood! You'll never have him!_

:_Never,_: Battousai affirmed, chill as winter. :_For we are what we are; and noble blades will_ shatter _before an unworthy hand may wield them._:

:_Noble? The Demon of Kyoto?_: A dark laugh touched them, even as the last of the infection collapsed. :_We'll see, Battousai..._:

"-Kenshin?"

Kaoru's voice. Kaoru's hand, warm on his shoulder. Kaoru's scent, jasmine and sweat and rainwater, wreathing him like a kami's blessing.

"Kenshin," the kendo teacher said again, "You have to let go, so we can treat Yahiko's shoulder- _oh._"

Kenshin blinked in time to see the wounds of Virus and his own claws closing, flesh and skin knitting back together as if it'd been weeks healing. Unruly dark hair stirred against his shoulder; Yahiko muttered something even his ears couldn't quite make out, but which sounded suspiciously like one of Sanosuke's careless curses. _I should have a long talk with a certain rooster-head about that,_ Kenshin thought tiredly. _Yahiko's not living on the street; he doesn't need that kind of language._

Yes. He should definitely have a talk with Sano about that. Later. When the world wasn't quite so gray and quiet...

"Damn it, 'Sai! Push yourself _and_ him over the edge, when he's still too skittish to take more than animal-"

Kenshin tried to frown, conscious of how suddenly heavy Yahiko was in his arms. _He sounds upset._

:_I think... we did too much..._:

Kenshin leaned against that tired voice, hoping the pair of them could brace each other. _But we had to._

:_For Yahiko,_: Battousai agreed wearily. :_But I think... we're in trouble._:

"What are you _doing?_" Kaoru's voice, rising at the end in a yelp of pain.

"Stay still, damn it! You're the only one of us who can spare anything, and he's enough out of it I don't trust his fangs, okay? Sheesh, newbies..."

_Thwock! _

"Ow!" Sano's footfalls retreated out of the restroom with unseemly haste. "Man! I was better off with the damn Virus!"

_Fresh blood._ Kenshin inhaled that warm, tantalizing scent, fangs aching - then jerked his head back in sudden dismay. _Kaoru's blood!_ "Sano, don't you _dare-!_"

"Oh, he dared, all right!" Kaoru flared, left wrist raised to slow the trickle of blood even as she brandished her bokken at the wary agent. Glanced Kenshin's way, and hesitated. "You - you really don't look too good."

"Kaoru... dono," Kenshin whispered, trying to fight back that draining thirst. All too aware of Tae deliberately keeping herself back behind Sanosuke; an Ubo, battling her own instincts in the presence of human blood. "You don't have to do this." _Damn it, help me!_

:_I_ am, _young one._: The sword's thoughts were strained, dark with hunger. :_I..._ will not _take from the unwilling. I will not..._:

Blue eyes stared back at them, wide and frightened - and suddenly, determined. "Next time, _I_ get to stock your fridge."

:_Kaoru in our kitchen? Run!_:

Hair standing on end at the very thought, Kenshin barely noticed when welcome crimson touched his lips.

_So warm..._

He nuzzled the soft skin of her wrist, licking the salt-and-bitter taste of fighting sweat near the blood. Shifted the warm burden of the one under his protection so there was room to draw her against him as well. He wanted this closeness, this warm brush of bright ki on his own shadowed energies; breathing her breath, feeling stray strands of midnight tickle his throat as his flame stroked hers.

:_She is so beautiful._:

Even after he'd licked the knife-wound closed, Kenshin held Kaoru close, comforted by the humanity of touch. He could _feel_ her brightness, like a beacon in the endless dark...

:_It is a beacon,_: Battousai said softly. :_We know the taste of her ki now, as we know Yahiko's. They are under our protection. We can find them now. Always._:

Somehow, he could think of worse fates.

"Ugh... what hit me... auggh!"

Jabbed by his brother's flailing elbow, Kenshin jerked back and sideways.

_Ow. _

:_Ambush?_: Battousai fought to keep steady through the sudden yelp of agony and flashing lights in their vision. :_But I didn't sense any-_:

_No,_ Kenshin thought, dazed. _Sink._

:_...There are times I_ hate _the modern world..._:

Kenshin blinked back smarting tears of pain. "Are you all right, Miss Kaoru?"

"Is _she_ all right?" Still pale, Yahiko stubbornly wavered to his feet. "You - you - that thing was trying to _eat_ me, and you two are necking?"

"We weren't-" Kaoru started.

"Not _eat,_ exactly-" Kenshin said at the same time.

"It wasn't like it was _her_ idea," Tae put in, glaring at Sano.

"And you woke up before they got to the good part, kid," Sano sighed manfully. "He never even got _near_ her neck."

Utter silence.

:_Oh, he is so dead._:

"_Oi! Jou-chan!_ Not the stick!"

---------

"Feisty little gal," Sano muttered, rubbing near his bruises as he leaned against the wall of Dr. Ogumi Gensai's waiting room. He took one more wary look at the other worn, tired New Yorkers taking advantage of Gensai's odd clinic hours, then glanced over at the redheaded shadow trying to disappear into pale cream paint. "I can see why the two of you like her."

Kenshin gave him a sidelong, ever so mildly disapproving look.

_Translation: we really_ do _like her, but I'm too embarrassed to talk about it,_ Sanosuke thought gleefully. _Oh, you picked a fun one this time, 'Sai._

Which definitely beat picking another guy like Ward; a Target Alpha agent with no other way out of life-threatening injuries or illness, who didn't like Kin any more than cops liked muggers, and who'd always hate what Battousai's magic would make him. Yep. Kenshin was _way_ easier to deal with.

_At least when it comes to talking,_ Sano thought. _Other things... I dunno._ "Tsunayoshi?"

"Tokugawa Tsunayoshi," Kenshin sighed. "The Dog Shogun."

"Guy who made it illegal to kill dogs, even when there was a good reason. I know that." Captain Sagara had been a good teacher. Even if he'd had to spend a lot of his corporeal time reading up on American history to give his young charge a more modern education than that a Meiji ghost remembered.

Kenshin shrugged. "He wasn't nearly as bad a guy as a lot of writers painted him later. He just lacked a certain... sense of proportion. And dissolving Yodoya was definitely over the top, no matter how many debts it wiped out-" He stopped at Sano's look. "What's wrong?"

"Outside of the fact that the guy's been _dead_ since, oh, 1709?" _And Battousai's always sworn he dates back to maybe a decade or two before Meiji. What gives?_

Kenshin blinked, eyes violet and puzzled. "He did read history, Sano."

"Yeah. That I got," Sanosuke acknowledged. "But that didn't sound like something you _read._" He raised a dark brow. "'Sai?"

Violet shimmered into amber.

_Damn it, 'Sai-_

A red brow flicked up, amber eyes dancing with amused gold glints. "One might think you don't trust me to know his strength, Sano."

"You didn't pull this with Ward," Sanosuke muttered.

"A joint lock will not break the arm unless the held one struggles," the sword-spirit shrugged. "Kenshin allows the hold. Ward did not."

"It's not that simple, and we both know it-" _Later. Bug Kenshin about it later._ Allowed or not, Battousai couldn't be present for long. "Why the hell didn't you tell Kenshin to bring Yahiko to _our_ doctor?"

Battousai gave him a level look. "Your doctor, perhaps. Not Yahiko's. Certainly not Kaoru's." A red brow arched slightly. "And while Kenshin has known him but a week, he is comfortable in Gensai-isha's presence. Why should I force him to bring his brother, the only family he has remaining in the world, to one who fears us?" His voice dropped, almost too soft to hear. "My heart deserves better of me than that."

_My heart. My young one. My own._ Sano's eyes narrowed as he studied his partner. _You never talked about Ward this way._ "Dr. Doctor's at least twice your age, and the last time I saw that Drac show off for the incoming newbie agents, he did a nifty pretzel imitation with steel bars. And you think he's afraid of you?"

"Yes."

_Which goes to show the doc may be about as pleasant to be around as a porcupine with a hangover, but he's not stupid,_ Sano reflected. In terms of sheer physical strength, Dr. Doctor could beat Battousai, hands down. Most vampires could. But when it came to an actual, no-holds-barred fight...

_Most Kin could've stomped that Dog,_ Sanosuke thought, absently wondering how the control teams he'd called in to look over that enchanted circuit were doing, before he shook it off to deal with the problem at hand. _Long as they didn't panic, at least. Long as they had just a_ little _practice fighting for their lives._

Which, granted, Kenshin had had plenty of, ever since he'd grabbed Battousai off a penthouse floor to take out the werewolf that had tried to have him for dinner. Even when he'd still been human, Kenshin had at least had the _concept_ that Things would try to eat him. Which was a lot more than most baby Kin had.

_Those five Virus in the alley, though..._

Armed and with backup, most sane Kin still would have rather run than fight five full-fledged Virus. Telepathy meant every Virus knew what _any_ Virus knew, and armored metal bodies meant conventional weapons might as well be rubber-band shooters. Even the special rounds Sano had, courtesy of Target Alpha, that could take out an engine block in one shot - even with that, you gave the damn things two to the chest and one to the head, and you hoped like hell you hit a weak spot. Battousai's swords were some of the few he'd ever seen that _didn't_ bounce off the monsters; the two years Virus had apparently been active hadn't been enough time for Virus-Attuned weapons to make it into general use.

_And that doesn't even get into that - that_ swarm _that had Yahiko._

Granted, each one individually was a _lot_ easier to take down than the metal-heads. About as easy as a... human...

There were _damn_ few Kin willing to take on a mob of humans. All the Edges in the world meant zip when thirty-odd hands were tearing you apart.

Battousai hadn't thought twice about it.

_The Demon of Kyoto. Captain Sagara_ told _me, but... I don't think I listened._

Yet _Kenshin_ still seemed to be as quiet and nice a guy as ever. As if it never even crossed his mind to use those lethal capabilities on anything that wasn't an immediate, life-threatening problem.

_Not like Ward at all. _

In a way, it was kind of creeping Sano out. _Nobody_ was that nice. That _decent._

_When he does blow a fuse, it's going to be one hell of a mess._

"Has there been any report?" Battousai asked, amber searching his gaze. "Sanosuke. You're worried."

Sano sighed. "They got Falconi poking around for magic with Uramura's squad and a couple others for backup. So far, all they got is that circuit - they _think_ it's some kind of weird Root Magic - and a lot of wrecked Virus."

"Natasha-san." The sword spirit inclined his head. "Good."

"And they want us to bring the little wriggler into R&D."

"Us." Amber chilled.

"Yeah," Sano said carefully. "Us." _You haven't gone near HQ since Kenshin picked you up, 'Sai. Don't think we haven't noticed._

Battousai held his gaze a moment longer, then shrugged. "We'll see Yahiko-kun and Kaoru-dono into safety, first."

"Like she needs help?" Sano raised his hands to ward off that dark look. "Fine, whatever. _'Sai-_"

A blink, a near-soundless gasp - and violet lifted to look at him. "It's... not nearly so bad as you think, that it is not," Kenshin smiled wanly. "He is careful, Sano."

"Oh yeah? Then why are you sweating?" Sanosuke grumbled.

"I did not say it was easy; that I didn't." Kenshin looked away. "What sort of person would I be if I held two friends from speaking to each other?"

_I don't know, normal?_ But Sano didn't say it. It'd only been about a week; Kenshin might _seem_ to be okay with being Kin, but under all those polite manners he had to be mad as hell-

"Kenshin!"

_Saved by the brat._ Sano had to grin as Kenshin was near bowled over by a hyper little brother, shinai and all. Kaoru, Tae, and Gensai himself were right behind him; Kaoru looked relieved, the Ubo tense but not jumpy, and Gensai...

_If he's not interested down to his toes, I'll eat my headband,_ Sano thought, eyeing that friendly smile. _Sorcerers_ live _for poking into mysteries._

"Well! I certainly can't fault you for bringing them in, but it seems your first aid was very effective," the elderly Sorcerer smiled broadly. "Well done."

Kenshin flushed slightly. "It wasn't me, really-"

"Himura-san." Kind gaze quite sober, Gensai touched Kenshin's arm gently. "Well done."

Fascinated, Sano watched his partner's cheeks go from light pink to near-flaming red. _He gets any more embarrassed, he's going to spontaneously combust._

"Now," Gensai said lightly, "shoo, shoo - we have actual sick people in here, no need to have your _kumi_ cluttering up the way..."

Almost before Sano knew it, they were all out on the clinic sidewalk, staring at each other. "Um," Tae ventured. "Dr. Gensai was - I mean, you _know_..."

"Crowley, Crowley, Crowley, sword-spirit," Sano stated, jabbing a thumb at himself and everybody else in turn. "Easy on these guys, they're still going to college. Ubo, huh? How's a butterfly-lady who can't stand _garlic_ work in an Oriental restaurant?"

"Akabeko's a Japanese restaurant," Tae said archly. "An' we cater to all sorts of special clientele, _Mr._ Sagara." She lifted a plucked eyebrow. "Why, we even let a few of your co-workers in. _If_ they play nice." Her smile warmed a little. "Not that most of 'em ever know they're anywhere but a quiet, old-fashioned restaurant."

"I sure didn't," Kaoru said softly. Squared her shoulders, and gave Kenshin a fierce look. "We're going home with Tae. Find out what they were up to, and stomp it a good one!"

"Up to?" Sano said incredulously. "Come on, Jou-chan. They came, they saw, they lost!"

"They knew they would lose," Kenshin said distantly. "Or they suspected."

"Say _what?_"

---------

Kenshin glanced around an office that looked like a paperwork tornado had hit it, pausing a moment on the life-sized poster of a younger, grinning Dolly Parton on the wall. Ki sense felt the busy minds testing and experimenting throughout these labs disguised as a small Brooklyn factory. Hearing was trying to tune out the inescapable country music, focussed on Sano's semi-heated discussion with the gum-snapping secretary keeping them from the guy who owned this office. Scent - well, he was trying not to smell anything; beyond the moldy coffee cups and long-dead African violets, the slightest taste of the air brought plastic, gunpowder, and a sickening burn of acid-eaten flesh. _I don't want to be here._

:_That makes two of us._: Battousai sighed in his mind. :_But it would be more suspicious if we were not._:

_Suspicious?_ Kenshin pounced on the thought, suddenly wishing he'd brought the daisho rather than politely leaving them hidden in Sano's car. _What are you up to?_

:_Up to? Of all the people to ask me that, you-_: Anger deflated, slumping into the weariness that still afflicted them both. :_Kenshin, I... you saw how Tae-dono looked at us. At me._:

Kenshin winced. There had been such _fear_ in brown eyes. As if, in the space of a breath, she'd seen the mild shopkeeper she bought jewelry and knickknacks from turn into a demon straight from hell.

:_In a sense, she did,_: Battousai said reluctantly. :_For decades, I have been Target Alpha's blade, passed from host to host, killing as they willed. To try to serve with honor. To keep myself_ sane - _for no matter how I despise some of what I have done, were I to be trapped within this blade without a mind to touch, without a hand to hold me..._

:_I would go mad. Mad as Jin-e. Or worse._

:_But you hold me now. You_ chose _me._

:_And I... I am so very tired of life as an assassin..._:

Kenshin drew a quiet breath. _You - you want to leave Target Alpha!_

:_Yes._: Another silent sigh. :_But they cannot know that, Kenshin. Not yet. You're still young, new to your form - a "baby", most Kin would say - and Kaoru and Yahiko have a great deal to learn before they can count themselves safe as most Crowleys. We have to be patient. And careful. Even if - I truly do not_ want _to..._:

_Lean on me._

A blink of surprise. :_Kenshin?_:

_I..._ Kenshin swallowed dryly, fingers brushing the sakabatou's hilt. _You let me lean on you when we're fighting. When I - when I_ need _to be angry. Lean on me now. Let me help you stay calm._

A surprised, tired laugh touched him. :_Gently, then. But be careful, my heart. I am no small spirit, whose malice or kindness can be repaid with a saucer of milk. I am a killing blade..._:

It was like being dropped in a forge fire.

_Hate. Anger. Rivers of blood. Killing, and loathing the kill, and cringing inside as the one who bore him despised him and all he was..._

"-Kenshin?" Sano stood in the office door, a skinny guy with a pocket protector and a black cowboy hat staring around his shoulder with predatory interest. "You okay?"

"Just thinking," Kenshin said hoarsely. _I'm trying, I am..._

The fire retreated. Still hot. Still painful. But he could bear it.

"You like my inspiration?" Cowboy Hat smirked at him.

Kenshin glanced at the poster, and stifled a heartfelt sigh. "Your pardon, but you are-?"

"Call me Texas."

Kenshin tried not to stare. _With a Connecticut accent?_

:_James Holstein, Coordinator of R&D,_: Battousai supplied, as if through gritted teeth. :_The man responsible for that - that_ noise _currently being inflicted upon us._:

Kenshin almost raised an eyebrow. _You don't like country?_

:_"Wild Angels", I can stand. "That Don't Impress Me Much" expresses sentiments any samurai would agree with. But every time Target Alpha has decided to indulge their petty curiosity about my link to my hosts, I have ended up here. With_ that _music._: A ripple of disgust, and weary resignation. :_And once you hear Sano sing "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off", with visual aids..._:

Kenshin winced. "Holstein-san," he said evenly. "Have you determined what it was Virus intended to implant in Yahiko?"

"Bug." Texas kept staring at him, like he was a piece of machinery not quite performing up to spec. "Thought the ENO item passed on memories to each host intact."

"Battousai remembers everything," Sano said, with the air of someone who'd explained this a hundred times before, and knew he'd probably have to go through it a hundred times again. "Kenshin just has to ask him about it. And what do you mean, bug? I thought it was some weird - delayed Infection, or something."

"Could have been." Texas crooked a finger to beckon them both into the hall, trotting back toward the main labs. "Any chance you could get the affected subject in here? We don't have a real good baseline for Virus Infection-"

"Yahiko's been through enough for one night," Kenshin said firmly, liking this less and less. Wisps of Battousai's memory rose with every step within these walls; ghostly images of watching a dreadlocked young man pound his fists bloody on observation window glass, caught in the grip of Inuit Madness that was the last gasp of a human mind succumbing to that Kin's Infection...

Texas had been there, Kenshin recalled. Making notes. Taking data. Cool and cheerful as if he were watching one of his many gadgets perform in its first field test.

:_A volunteer,_: Battousai murmured. :_A fool. I... did not wish to be there. I had seen such Infections before, I knew the depths to which the victim sinks. Ward... Ward wanted to remind himself of why he killed Kin..._:

"Yes, of course," Texas waved a dismissing hand now, "but the data-"

"I am not bringing my little brother within these walls." Kenshin heard the steel in his voice; softened it. "That I am not."

"Your-?" Texas jerked to a stop, wiggling a finger in his ear to clear out any blocking wax. "Hey, you're on the job. You know what comes with the territory."

"Skipped the personal details on the file again, huh?" Sano said wryly.

"What's that got to do with Battousai taking a new host?" Texas looked honestly puzzled.

Sano cleared his throat. "Dr. Holstein, meet Kenshin Himura. Civilian."

Texas stared. Wiggled a finger in his ear again. Glanced at Kenshin, then back at Sanosuke. Chuckled. "Nice. Good one. You really had me going for a minute there-"

"We're not joking, that we are not," Kenshin said firmly.

"But," Texas protested weakly, "in order to even _be_ here, you've got to have a security clearance of..."

"We had to default him to a 7," Sano shrugged, leaning against one of the few pieces of corridor wall that didn't have a corkboard full of notes and scientific posters on it. "Kind of a backdoor way to clear a field operative, but like you said, Battousai _does_ pass on memories."

_"Are you absolutely insane?" _

"Only mildly annoyed," Kenshin muttered. "Holstein-san. We are tired. We've been wounded. We need rest. And I want very much to know why Virus sacrificed so many of its members in a fight it _knew_ it would not win."

Texas' jaw clicked shut. "Knew?"

"Its actions do not make sense, otherwise," Kenshin stated. He knew it, bone-deep; surely as he knew that knowledge was not his, but that of a sword who'd survived countless battles. "A feint? To disguise planting an information-gathering device?" He eyed the R&D scientist. "What sort of information could it have gathered, inside Yahiko?"

"Now, that's the interesting part." Texas gave him a wary look, but eager curiosity pushed even that aside. "It's a lot more advanced and a lot more bio-electric than what we use - but it _looks_ a lot like the sensors we use to track Infection progress."

:_What? But I-_:

_Don't Infect. Not when you already have a bearer. I know,_ Kenshin thought, troubled.

"Crazy," Sano stated. "Virus has pulled enough data-raids to _know_ Battousai can't Infect anybody." He paused. "Well, outside of-"

"One who chooses to bear him, when his host has perished," Kenshin said flatly. "I know."

"The ENO doesn't Infect, yes," Texas nodded. "But it does _mark._"

"Any Kin can do that-" Sano started.

"No, no, no," Texas cut in, eyes agleam with smug interest. "Not any. Not the way Battousai does. Gentlemen, if you'll follow me..."

---------

Tae accepted the cup of warmed red liquid with trembling hands. "You sure he won't mind?"

Perching in one of Kenshin's kitchen chairs, close enough to kick Yahiko in the shins if he got snarky, Kaoru smiled at her old friend. _First Dr. Gensai, now Tae. How many of the people I know are Kin?_ "He's Kenshin. What do you think?"

"He's _Battousai._"

"Hey!" Yahiko glared at the Ubo, eyes narrowed. "Don't you say things like that about my brother-!"

Kaoru put a hand on his shoulder. "He's Kenshin," she repeated firmly. "We've been with him since - since this happened. Battousai's there, but he's still Kenshin."

Tae stared at her, then knocked back the cup of beef blood like a biker in a drinking contest. "And you're okay?" she demanded when she came back up for air. "He _fed_ on you, Kaoru. Are you - has he been-"

Flushing slightly, Kaoru glanced at the pink line still healing on the inside of her left wrist. "That was... the first time..."

She was young, she had a healthy fantasy life - when she had time for fantasies, between teaching kendo, working odd jobs to fill in the empty spots in her budget, and being an adoptive big sister to Ayame and Suzume. She'd read some of the classic vampire stories; she could practically make a checklist of what having your blood drained by a sexy creature of the night was supposed to feel like.

_Let's see: ultimate pleasure, shuddering surrender to instinct, don't care if you die here as long as it's with him..._

It hadn't been like that at all.

_Warm. It was... so warm..._

Like being wrapped in a down blanket by a roaring fireplace, while the rest of the world was silent snow and ice. Strands of red had ghosted over her bare skin as Kenshin pulled her closer, mingling her breath with Yahiko's. For a moment she felt their three heartbeats falling into rhythm, as the clean kiss of steel touched them all.

And then, with one last shivering sweep of tongue over skin, it was over.

Kaoru sighed now, missing that feeling of being warm, being... cherished. "I don't think he'll do that again. Not with the way Sano was leering at us-"

Tae's eyes glowed, red shining in brown. _"Tell me what he did to you."_

"He protected me." It was her voice, but not her will saying the words. Like Jin-e all over again. "He... kissed me..."

"Battousai?"

"Both of them..." She couldn't move. Couldn't fight.

_I can't give up! I won't!_

"What are you doing to Kaoru, you ugly!" A shinai whistled through the air.

"Yahiko, _stop!_"

Hand wrapped around her student's, Kaoru drew deep breaths of air. Looked across the kitchen, where a wide-eyed Ubo was backed against the sink. "Don't do that again," Kaoru said breathlessly.

"People," Tae swallowed dryly, "aren't supposed to be able to break that."

Kaoru let go of Yahiko's hand, still trying to get her breath under control. "Yeah, well - next to Kurogasa, Tae, whatever you just did was a wet paper bag."

"Kurogasa?" Tae paled.

Kaoru felt her brows climb to match Yahiko's slack-jawed surprise. _Can vampires faint?_

"Mean, nasty Muramasa wakizashi," the teen said flatly. "Kenshin stomped him." Yahiko's eyes flickered away, suddenly finding the gray and blue rug bunched up on the floor by the sink absolutely fascinating.

_And that's how Kenshin got into this mess in the first place,_ Kaoru finished silently. _Protecting us._

But there was no time for guilt. She had to press her advantage now, before Tae pulled another supernatural rabbit out of her hat. "He makes me feel safe, Tae," Kaoru stated. "He cares about me. They both do." She spread her hands, silently asking for honesty. "You _know_ him, Tae. Why does he scare you so much?"

Tae bit her knuckles, fangs not quite breaking skin. Shivered. Glanced at Yahiko, and Kaoru's left wrist, and shivered again.

Wrestling down her impatience, Kaoru waited.

"I knew Kenshin," Tae managed at last. "Battousai... he's a killer, Kaoru. Stone cold. He's- he-" She swallowed dryly, looking at Yahiko. "Kid, you don't want to hear this."

"He's my _brother_," Yahiko bit out.

"He's a nightmare," Tae whispered. "And for Kin, that's saying something. I mean... a couple _dozen_ Virus, and he just- just-"

"I saw." Kaoru crossed the kitchen, put her hands over Tae's own chill fingers. Fingers that had borne claws, and dripped oil and blood. "I saw him _save_ us, Tae." Blue eyes sought frightened brown. "Or is everything Sano told us about Virus - how it hates everything that isn't it, how it _eats_ you, until there's nothing left but a metal shell that remembers and doesn't feel - is all of that a lie? Is it?"

"No..." Tae hiccuped, suddenly; burying her face in her hands. "Oh gods, Kaoru - I just wanted to fly away. I just - just wanted to _leave_ you there, I was so _scared_..."

"Say what?" Yahiko yelped.

"But you didn't," Kaoru said gently, watching clear drops trickle through Tae's fingers. "You didn't, Tae."

"I-I'm so _s-sorry..._"

"We were all scared." Kaoru had felt that, too, even amidst Kenshin's comforting warmth. A quiet, incredulous joy; as if he _had_ to hold them, had to be certain they were real and breathing and alive. And if Kenshin had felt that way...

So did Battousai.

"It's okay," Kaoru said softly, accepting the tears now dripping onto her shoulder. "We're going to be all right." She wrapped a gentle arm around the other woman, and gave Yahiko a speaking look.

The teen rolled his eyes, but put the shinai down on the table, carelessly yanking fingers through unruly dark hair. "Just wish I knew what the hell was going on!"

"Language," Kaoru said automatically. "They'll tell us when they get back."

"Yeah." Yahiko grinned at her. "Or we'll feed them some of your cooking."

"Yahiko!"

---------

"So." Texas finished his long spiel, finger jabbing at three different charts at once, talking over both that incessant country music and the more soothing rumble of the running-water tank on the black side counter; meant for testing vampiric vulnerabilities, along with bits of meteorite, stray flints, and neat leaf-piles of wolfsbane, garlic, and other herbs. "While most Kin have the tagging capability, Drain, and Infection as separate - though interrelated - aspects of inhuman physiology, the _way_ a Muramasa possesses people, through the blade tasting blood, means they're really all parts of the same thing." He grinned, spreading a hand as if to flourish his results at the rest of the gathered crowd of scientists, engineers, and various other Target Alpha tech types. "It's amazingly efficient."

Kenshin swallowed dryly, not liking either the conclusions or the focussed attention they were garnering. "And you know this how...?"

Texas made a grab for Sano's right hand, backed off when the agent glared at him. "Battousai and Kurogasa cancelled each other out. From what we know about enchanted blades, that shouldn't happen. But from what we know about Kin Infections, it makes _perfect_ sense. Somebody who's already got vampiric viruses in their veins won't succumb to lycanthropy. The seat's already taken. No room at the inn. No-"

"We got it, we got it," Sano broke in hastily. "Kenshin?" _You okay?_ that wary tone asked.

Kenshin shook his head. _I've_ Infected _Yahiko? But that can't be, I- I didn't_ mean _to-_

:_Kenshin._:

Haunted, he let warm scales take hold.

"You are mistaken," Battousai said levelly. He ignored the gasps, the whispers, the hasty steps backward by some of the more cowardly or intelligent denizens of the lab. "Jin-e tasted blood to weaken the will, and to seek new hosts when his body was slain. But Ward was dead long before Jin-e attacked Sanosuke. Were the mode of action as you claim..." Amber swept upward, searching out warm brown. "I would have found myself within Sagara Sanosuke, and not Himura Kenshin."

Surprise flashed over Sano's face, followed swift by guilty relief. "'Sai..."

"Well." Texas wasn't smiling anymore. "There's an easy way to prove it. Just bring this Yahiko in, and-"

"No."

The skinny engineer's eyes narrowed, disbelieving. "It's not like you have a choice in the mat-"

_Clunk. _

Sheathing his blade, Battousai waited that brief fraction of a heartbeat, as the impact of hilt to jaw hit the brain.

_Thump. _

A ghost of a smile touched his lips, despite the grating music. _That feels... much better._

:_Violence doesn't solve anything,_: Kenshin sighed.

_Oh no? I would say he is_ quite _solved, my heart._ "Listen to me." Amber eyes swept the room, pointedly not looking at the unconscious body on the floor. "Kurogasa and I are not Kin as you know them. If you treat us as such, in your tests, they _will_ fail. And if you fail with Kurogasa, one of you will slip, and draw blood - and a soul will be condemned to destruction, as Udo Jin-e walks this world once more."

"Gangway - coming through - _move it!_" A short girl with a long black braid, a pencil stuck behind her ear, bright green eyes, and a Goth-ninja-style outfit of blue and white that would have gotten grins at any Kin club forced her way to the front. A manila folder of printout was tucked under her left arm, and midnight-blue fingerless gloves fisted on her hips in pure defiance. "Not Kin, huh? So what do _you_ say you are?"

_Misao Makimachi,_ Battousai told his bearer, amusement glimmering through his chill. _Hacker, lab wizardess, and self-confessed caffeine addict. One of the few people who make coming here bearable at all._ "I am a Muramasa blade, Misao-dono. Read the tales.

_Satsujin-ken, katsujin-ken._"

Misao's nose wrinkled, puzzled. "The sword that kills..." she translated hesitantly, "the sword that gives life?"

"So swords are meant to be." Battousai unsheathed the sakabatou and plunged it into running water, facing the sharp edge into the tank current. "But Muramasa's blades bring only death." One hand picked up a leaf of wolfsbane, and dropped it into the swift rivulet.

And amber eyes looked away.

_A Muramasa blade is killing perfection,_ Battousai recalled. _Against that perfect edge, the mere pressure of the water will slice a leaf in two. But when a lord praised one of the Muramasa smiths for such blades..._

_"Masamune will always be our master," Muramasa said. "Thrust his blade into that same stream, and let another leaf sweep toward it - and the course of that leaf will change. It floats around the deadly edge, sailing on, untouched; for Masamune's swords possess power beyond simple destruction. They spare the leaf; they choose to spare it, for they have the strength to protect life and preserve the order of things. Against his blades, our work is as nothing."_

:_I'm sorry,_: Kenshin whispered.

_We are what we are._ Battousai drew the sakabatou from the water, drying it on his sleeve. Magic sealed it from most mortal harm, but that was no reason to dishonor the blade.

:_Yahiko will be glad to see you, you know._:

_But if we've tainted him-_

:_I can find him. I can protect him. Just like you always did for Sanosuke. You told me_ we _would look after him. Well, we_ are.: Comfort touched the spirit. :_Let's go home now._:

_Home,_ Battousai thought, releasing his bearer's body. _I think... that is the most wonderful word in the world._

---------

_Friends in low places,_ Sanosuke thought, staring at what was left in the water tank as Kenshin's soundless steps vanished down the hall. _I feel pretty damn low right now._ "That Falconi's report?"

"Uh-huh..." Numbly, Misao handed over the folder. "But you-" she stammered, green eyes wide.

"Yeah," Sano said flatly.

"But he-"

"Yeah."

"But how can you possibly _explain-?_"

"No clue whatsoever." Still stunned, Sanosuke went after his partner, stuffing a small, fragile treasure in his jacket pocket.

One wet, untouched leaf.

---------

Translations and Info:

_Attuned_ - when a weapon is enchanted to ignore the supernatural armor of a specific race of Kin.

_Battou-jutsu_ - a.k.a. _iai-jutsu._ Lethal sword-drawing, draw and strike all in one motion.

_Battousai_ - "Master of lethal sword-drawing".

_Bokken_ - wooden sword.

_Chiburi_ - shake the blood from the blade.

_Commune_ - faction of Kin that advocates peaceful coexistence with humans.

_Crowley_ - human aware of the existence of Kin.

_Daisho_ - "Great and small"; paired swords, katana and wakizashi.

_Drac_ - vampire who tends toward Hollywood stereotypes.

_Go to college_ - learn about Kin.

_Hai_ - yes.

_Jou-chan_ - "Little missy."

_Kami_ - spirit, divinity.

_Kin_ - supernatural creatures.

_Kumi_ - team, group.

_Lazarus Smile_ - the Kin's bogeyman. A possessing spirit that kills Kin, only detectable by the fixed, eerie smile of its host bodies.

_Oi_ - Hey. Usually used by guys.

_Sakabatou_ - "reverse-blade sword".

_Saya_ - sheath.

_Shinai_ - bamboo practice sword.

_Twisted Dimensions_ - a source of magic and many other paranormal creatures.


	2. Chapter 2

:_Mmm... hot water..._:

Kneading shampoo into his hair, Kenshin stifled a chuckle. _You're a sybarite, you know that?_

:_I am a civilized being,_: Battousai said archly. The sakabatou might be safely away in his bedroom, but distance had ceased to matter days ago. :_Hot water is one of humanity's greatest and most civilizing inventions. Hot running water - well. It is no true match for a soak in a properly steaming pool, but it will do._: A contented sigh, as suds swept down the drain. :_Turn just a bit that way, yes..._:

Kenshin sighed himself, feeling the combination of heat and Battousai's power working out the last of tonight's bruises. It was hard to grudge the blade his simple joy in sensation. Even if it was a bit - unsettling - to feel the backwash of that purring pleasure in clean, wet heat.

The sword-spirit blinked sleepily in his soul. :_You do like it, don't you?_:

Kenshin closed his eyes and ducked back under the shower spray, working the last suds out of long hair.

:_Kenshin..._: A sigh, and then silence.

Turning off the water, Kenshin blinked stray drops out of his eyes. Frowned. It wasn't like Battousai to give up that easily.

Still silence.

Through the walls he could hear Kaoru's own shower running, triggering a fleeting impulse to head to the next apartment, snatch up a certain damp kendo teacher, and haul her back to his own couch for the night. An impulse Kenshin firmly squashed. Not because Kaoru might take it the wrong way - she knew him, she knew he wasn't that kind of guy. At least, he hoped she did.

No. It was all too likely Kaoru would read any attempt to carry her off as exactly what it was: not a rude human courting gesture, but instinct rooted in steel and magic. He'd fought to keep her alive. Tasted her blood. Her ki. She _belonged_ where he could _protect_ her-

_And if she even guesses you're thinking that,_ Kenshin told himself dryly, _Sanosuke won't be the only guy rubbing lumps from that bokken._

"I'm fine," she'd said when they parted for the night, hand barely straying near her neck. "The building's safe. And Yahiko needs his big brother all to himself tonight." Kaoru had hesitated, blue eyes troubled. "And I just... need to think. Okay?"

_No. Not okay. I know you. I need you to be safe._

But Kaoru's apartment building _was_ safe. As safe as decades of magic and Target Alpha's computer blocks could make it. If Virus were near here, he'd _know._

_I can't upend Kaoru's life just to make my nerves feel better. Not when I... care about her..._

Steel never quivered.

Uneasy, Kenshin took advantage of the odd quiet to dry off and grab his bathrobe. A habit he'd developed in college, and never quite managed to put down again; all too many of the guys he'd shared dorms with thought lack of height meant lacks in _other_ areas as well. It was a hell of a lot easier to get sneered at for being modest than be ogled as not quite a girl.

A lot easier, he knew, pulling the covers over his head, not to think about it at all...

_"Hey, Himura!" _

A few steps away from his dorm-room door, wet hair just starting to chill against his neck, Kenshin turned - and regretted it. _Drunks._

Frat brothers, most would say. He didn't really see much difference. Which fraternity, he neither knew nor cared; the hulking bodies in yeasty t-shirts and natty striped business shirts were clue enough that he was in trouble.

Odd. He was looking at faces, he knew he was - yet all he saw were blurs. _Must be more tired than I thought._

All the more reason to get out of here. Why, why, _why_ had some idiot let these jerks in?

_You know why. They're tall, and charming, and they act like they're the center of the universe. Everything you're not._

"Aw, don't tell me the little geek is ignoring us."

A heavy hand reached for him; Kenshin side-stepped it with an innocent look, getting just a little closer to his door. "Sorry, guys; I've got this massive exam tomorrow, you know how it is..." _Don't move too fast. But don't be slow. Something's wrong about this._ Unobtrusively, he slipped his hand into his bathrobe pocket, fishing out his key.

"Exam tomorrow!" For some reason, that broke up the whole group in gales of beer-soaked, sloppy laughter.

_I_ really _don't like the feeling of this._ One step at a time, just a few more, he was at the doorknob.

"Listen up, pretty boy." A muscled grip caught the collar of his bathrobe, tugging it open. "You've got an exam _tonight._"

Fear froze him, key in hand. This couldn't be happening. Couldn't be. He couldn't be seeing in their eyes... what he was eerily sure he _was_ seeing.

_Lust. Will to pain. Hunger._

"Isn't that right, guys?"

"Yeah!"

The ringleader let terrycloth out of his grip, convinced his prey was cowed. "I can't hear you!"

"YEAH!" Toilet paper flew through the air. T-shirts and no shirts at all started banging trashcans together.

"One more _time_-"

_Click._

A quick twist of the key, an even quicker jump inside to lock the door behind him again. All he wanted was to breathe-

_No time!_

Snatch the sleeping bag from his bed. Shove up the window so it gaped suspiciously open. Swift and silent, dash into his wardrobe, pulling that door shut behind him to make it look as though _no one_ was there.

_Bang!_ "Bitch locked the door!"

"Get Haggarty!" another voice cursed.

_Oh, by all means, do get the RA,_ Kenshin thought wryly, crouched in darkness. He wouldn't be surprised if they could track him by heartbeat alone.

"Yeah, he likes us, doesn't he?" Rough snickers. "What do you think - a ten ought to get us inside?"

Kenshin froze.

The world froze.

:_What would you do?_:

There wasn't light enough in the wardrobe to see anyone. There wasn't _room_ for there to be anyone to see.

And yet - someone was there. A dark, subtle presence in blue and gray, threads of crimson drifting past its shoulders. A small presence, kneeling as he was kneeling, patient as stone.

:_Knowing then what you know now, what would you do?_:

Then? What did he mean, _then?_ This was- was-

Clawed fingers reached through the darkness, wrapping their odd comfort about a trembling human hand. :_What would you do, my heart?_:

_I... would..._

Do nothing, Kenshin realized. His quick bluff had worked, even when the bribed RA had let the bastards take a look. Even if he'd had the skills to defend himself - which he _hadn't,_ then - they were far too drunk to see reason if one of their number fell. Attack one, and he would have had to take them all. And with so many, in such close quarters... someone would have died.

Fangs glinted in a shadowed smile. :_Wise._:

Kenshin's fists clenched. _If I'd been smart, it never would have happened!_

:_Will you let fear rule you even now? Evil happens, my own. All we can do is be prepared to defend ourselves from it._:

_That's the point! I could have... I should have..._

:_There_ should _have been something you could do, yes. Yet there_ was _not. You had no control over the actions of a mob of drunken louts, nor over the betrayals of your community, who should have seen this as a threat to one of theirs - and did not. You acted to preserve yourself, and you succeeded. No one should ask more._:

Knees aching on top of squashed sneakers, Kenshin winced. _If I - if I'd been..._

:_Like them?_: Alien disdain curled through him. :_Unmannered, uncouth brutes, who mistake wealth and power for_ iki _and_ hari? _You couldn't live with yourself._:

_Iki? Hari?_ Kenshin tried to blink, feeling something... not quite right about this whole night. _Samurai virtues don't exactly get you far in New York, that they do not._

:_Ah? And why not? Samurai have been creatures of cities since well before the Tokugawa_ bakufu _instituted alternate attendance._: A quiet laugh. :_Though it was the virtues of the townsfolk I was thinking of. The surface may have altered, but in spirit,_ Edokko chounin _had much in common with the folk you know today. I met more than a few of them, who had come to Kyoto for one side or the other..._:

Edokko. The children of the castle-town of the Tokugawa, unlike anyone else in the world, who moved about like streamers blown by May winds.

_How do I know that?_

Kenshin drew in a sharp breath, feeling the substance of the wardrobe start to fade like mist. _What on earth is going-_

:_Shh, little one. You don't need to be awake. Not yet._: Those strong, alien hands rubbed comfort into the backs of his. :_Let me show you..._:

Blood. Spattered on the ground. Drifting on the wind.

A red-and-white banner, broken; the character of _Makoto_ - Truth - still fluttering in the starry night. A few last, red drops, trickling from the katana in his hand.

Bodies, clad in blue and white. Torn and shattered, beside the steel that had not saved them.

_I... killed them?_

Blood on his blade, on his claws, in his breath. Though oddly, not a drop had touched the Choushuu-blue haori weighing down weary arms. He was so tired...

But he wasn't done. Not yet. Not while he could still sense the fleeing ki of those he guarded, disappearing into Kyoto's back alleys.

"Okita-kun." A deceptively warm voice in the night. "Please step back."

"Don't worry about me." A small, dark-haired samurai - still a few fingers taller than himself - grinned, blue-and-white uniform rustling softly as he raised his blade. "I'm still captain of the First Unit, after all."

"But are you not ill in the lungs?"

_So he is,_ Kenshin knew, sensing that bitter crack in Okita's fierce ki. _Not that it would stop him from cutting me apart._

_Though he might die trying..._

"My eyes are not made of wood," Okita's taller companion smiled, a few dark bangs flying free over his iron headband.

_Say rather, your nose,_ Kenshin thought wryly. _If you are who I think you are..._

"I, Saitou Hajime-"

_Yes, I thought you were._

"Captain of the Third Shinsengumi Unit-"

_The Wolves of Mibu. _

"-Will _kill_ the Hitokiri Battousai."

_Really?_

Saitou dropped into the left-handed crouch of Gatotsu, right hand splayed against his blade to guide the deadly thrust. Growled, eyes gleaming from human blue to wolf-gold.

Without thought, Kenshin lifted his blade to guard.

"...Ready."

Still silent, Kenshin waited. Saitou's ki was focused, but not ready to strike. Not yet. Not _yet-_

Steel keened on steel.

:_What would you do?_:

Another blue haori, just at the edge of his vision. Crimson strands, blowing in the wind.

:_Knowing then what you know now, what would you do?_:

_Break free and run,_ Kenshin thought, still dazed by the way his mortal enemy was frozen, as he was, halted in that moment of memory like a scorpion in amber. _There's no point in killing them. I promised to protect my people. I can't do that if I'm dead. _

_And... even if they don't know it... we're all fighting for the same thing. For our people. Our country. Even if we are enemies - I don't want to kill them. Not if I don't have to._

:_Yes._:

_But - I - who_ are _you?_ Kenshin tensed. _Why can't I see your face?_

:_Because you haven't looked, my own..._:

"Hahh!" Throwing back the covers, Kenshin sat up in the darkness of his bedroom. _Gods, so much blood, so much-_

No blood. At least, nothing beyond the faint scent that still clung to Yahiko in the next room over, ki restless as the teen tossed in his own nightmares.

"Uff." Kenshin buried his face in his hands, rubbing his temples as if he could knead out the gruesome images. "Ugh."

:_Kenshin?_:

_"Nan demo nai!" _

:_Ah._: Wry humor flicked at the dark terrors. :_So much nothing, you'll be waking Yahiko if you yell any louder._:

"_Ch-_ d-damn it." Panting, Kenshin ghosted out of his bedroom to the apartment's lone bathroom, easing that door open silent as a drift of wind. Slipped in, closed it - and turned on the lights, before splashing his face liberally with cold water. Just because he could. Just because it was a _human_ thing to do, to need light in the middle of the night….

:_Nightmares?_:

"As if you didn't know," Kenshin muttered, burying his face in a towel.

:_I'm never certain how much you remember on waking. Human or Kin, minds are always tricky._: A hesitation. :_And your… images… catch me, as well. There are times I don't realize how much of your memory I've seen until I've already acted on it._:

Kenshin leaned on the counter, looking down at the sheen of light on wet white porcelain. "So many deaths."

:_My bearer did what he had to, to survive. As we did today._: A silent sigh. :_Kenshin. We create objects with purpose. A hairpin is to adorn. A sword is to slay._:

No, no, he wasn't going to-

:_…And a mirror, my own, is to be looked at._:

_No!_

A chill pain, deep inside. :_Is… what I have shaped you to become… so very loathsome?_:

Kenshin winced. "I'm not Ward," he whispered. "I don't hate you." _But… if I don't look… it's not real. It didn't happen. I'm still me._

:_That is your right._: The chill closed on itself, trying not to touch him. :_But Yahiko and Kamiya-sensei have not the luxury of mirrors._:

Kenshin sucked in a hurt breath.

:_Yahiko is your brother, Kenshin. His ki sense is not strong, not yet; still, he has begun to feel when the world is not as it appears to be. As he can feel the discrepancy between the self you cling to, and the self he can_ see. _And that discrepancy, that sense of pieces unmatched and gaping, in the one person in the world he trusts to protect him…._:

_It's my life!_

:_It is._:

Hands gripped the counter, fingertips whitening. He felt the pressure; felt the answering, itching tingle, that meant his claws were about to bite deep into whatever opposed them-

Dropped his shoulders, resigned.

_If I keep this up… I'm going to break the sink._

Hell of a thing to explain to the plumber. Much less to a sleepy, grumbling teenager stumbling through the pre-breakfast motions. It was hard enough to get Yahiko to comb that mess in the morning as it was….

Trying not to think of anything else, Kenshin met the mirror's gaze.

:_Easy… easy… you are brave, my own, I know you are…._:

_At least… my eyes are still mine._

Violet as ever; though the easy innocence he'd been used to seemed shadowed now, tempered with the sober knowledge of the darkness that stalked them. The fine-boned, sharp-chinned features were still his; though the cross-shaped scar that had sealed Battousai into his soul cast that shape in starker relief, shaving years from his face even as it warned ordinary souls of peril they would rather not know existed.

_Oh gods. I barely look old enough to be looking after_ myself, _much less Yahiko!_

:_Especially in this city,_: Battousai mused, chill slowly loosening. :_You see, now, why Sanosuke is so bent on taking you under his wing? It's not that he expects you to fall into Ward's place - it's that you look so perilously_ young. _Like the street-raised Crowley he was, when Captain Sagara was teaching him how to survive-_:

_I'm going to get carded! _

Steel rippled; a soft, stifled chuckle. :_I-_: _Snicker._ :_-truly can't help that, my own…._:

Grumbling some of the words he'd heard from Yahiko under his breath, Kenshin covered his face with his hands, rubbing the headache out of red brows before finger-combing his hair back-

And stopped.

Drawing his fingers down through still-damp strands, Kenshin lifted bright crimson into view. And tried to keep breathing.

_Like the dream._

Battousai's mark, this; as much as the scar. Hair like flame, like falling maple leaves; a long fall of scarlet past his shoulders whose comforting weight seemed familiar as worn sneakers.

_But I've never had long hair. Ever._

Which made that fall of crimson even more frightening than claws and fangs. It felt _right._ Right as carrying a sword. As drinking blood….

:_We could cut it._:

_No!_ Kenshin shook his head, trying to quell the anger that had flared at that hesitant suggestion. _Is that what Ward did to you?_

:_It_ was _his body._:

_But - the weight of our hair - we're_ used _to it. It's part of our balance. Part of feeling the wind as we fight._ Part _of our fight, distracting the opponent…._ Kenshin hesitated, realizing he was stroking damp strands like a rain-spattered kitten.

:_Kenshin?_:

_Ayame and Suzume… thought it was pretty…._

Battousai laughed softly at his blush. :_And Kaoru-dono might as well? Aa, she might. She might indeed._: A tentative touch. :_Is that what you fear?_:

_I-_

Patience, against his trembling. The endless patience of a blade, who knew its very existence meant it _would_ be drawn.

Glancing down, Kenshin lifted his hand, running his thumb over the tops of his claws. Touched his tongue to the back of one fang.

Sadness. :_Easier to face the monster than the man._:

_"Hai,"_ Kenshin whispered. "I- we were always hidden folk. Always trying to blend with those about us. Yet I - I could not..."

:_It's not your fault, my own. Your parents may have followed the path of_ onmitsu, _but that soul is not yours. You are not the laughing courtesan whose eyes watch, unseen by those who assume the painted surface is the truth; you are the whisper of wind, the ghost-step in the night._:

Kenshin winced. _A hitokiri._

Battousai let that pass. :_So it is being obvious that upsets you?_:

An easy answer. He wanted to reach for it, wanted to deny there was anything more to this fear than the breaking of a lifetime's habits of obscurity.

But it would be a lie.

"My mother was beautiful," Kenshin said softly. "She died. I couldn't- I wanted-"

:_Beauty, and kindness, and the strength to protect those you loved. All yours. All stolen from you._: Wry amusement touched him, soft as falling snowflakes. :_What could any soul do, but want them back?_:

_Be careful what you wish for._ Kenshin's cheeks were on fire; he could feel it._ Even Maekawa said... I used to look like Yahiko's brother. But now - I look at him, and I see our father. He looks at me, and sees the ghost of a woman whose life would have meant he was never born._ "My mother wasn't a shopkeeper."

:_And you are torn between your duty as eldest son to provide for your family, and the steel in your soul my touch has unsheathed. The hitokiri's nature, that wishes to abandon Wonderful Things and hunt Virus to the ends of the earth, so that Yahiko-kun and Kamiya-san will never be threatened again._:

"It's so stupid," Kenshin whispered. "I'm a responsible person, that I am. I love what I do..."

:_You were content to live the life you knew. Now, you are not. And that is my fault._:

"Well, you and a certain agency that won't keep Virus out of our financial life unless I back Sano up," Kenshin pointed out, forcing lightness into his tone. "What good would being a simple shopkeeper be if they set the IRS to take the shop out from under us both?"

A quiet laugh. :_True, my own. All too true._:

"But since I have met you, I feel as if I have always walked in grays," Kenshin said haltingly. "And now, color waits just off the path I have always taken. It calls to me. Clings to me. And I - I do not wish it to go." Violet closed. "Not even the crimson of bloody rain..."

_Thump. Rattle. _

Jerking back from the counter, Kenshin breathed away that first, startled panic, and opened the door to a nightmare-shaken ki.

Rubbing heavy-lidded eyes, Yahiko squinted at him. Blinked. Grumbled something incoherent.

Hands raised and peaceful, Kenshin stepped clear of the sink.

Stumbling past, Yahiko splashed his face with water, patting away drops on face and neck. Froze, fingers on the still-pink scars.

"Yahiko, _iie!_"

Kenshin held his brother tight, gripping the hands that fought to tear more bloody half-moons in skin. "Get it out," Yahiko sobbed. "Get it _out-_"

"It's gone," Kenshin cut in fiercely, wrapping the boy in his arms. "Do you hear me, Yahiko-kun? It's gone. We killed it." He searched that familiar ki to be certain, licking away the blood to heal the wound. The taste was right, whole; _his._ "You are ours, and nothing can take you from us!"

"K-Kenshin..."

"It's all right," Kenshin said more gently, hugging him close. "It's all right, Yahiko. You're here, you're safe, I have you..."

The teen clung to him like a storm-swept vine, ear pressed against his heartbeat. "It was just - they were just - taking me _apart,_ a chunk at a time-" Yahiko shivered.

"_Maa, maa,_ Yahiko-kun. _Daijoubu._" Kenshin smoothed down unruly dark hair. "It's all right. They won't have you, that they will not." _Not while I have breath to stop them._

:_This is why we kill, when we must,_: Battousai said softly. :_For Yahiko, and others like him, who want nothing more than to live free of fear. Will you continue to torment yourself for acting to save lives?_: A touch in his soul, as if an unseen hand stroked crimson hair. :_Or will you accept that you are a swordsman, with the skill to slay when you must, and the strength of soul to avoid death when you can?_:

_I'll... try..._

Kenshin drew a soft breath, listening to his brother's sobs tapering off. "You should get some sleep, that you should," he said matter-of-factly. "You're going with Miss Kaoru to spar under Maekawa-sensei's eyes, after all; and neither of them will pull their blows because one student is lacking in sleep - that they will not."

"Sleep!" Yahiko muttered, gingerly feeling at his throat. "God. You think I could sleep after this..." Fingers touched damp skin, and froze. "You- I thought I felt, but- you- you _licked_ me!"

"You tore at the wound," Kenshin said reluctantly. "I wanted it to heal cleanly." _I wanted to be certain you were_ you. _Which you are. I know you. I'll always know you, now..._

"Oh, _great!_ You know how many germs there are in a human mouth?"

A wry smile touched Kenshin's lips. "None of mine will harm you."

"Easy for _you_ to-" Yahiko froze. Gulped. Pulled back, just enough to look his brother in the eye. "For real?"

Kenshin nodded.

"How-?"

"I don't know," Kenshin said honestly. "Battousai only knows that what we touch, will not fester. It's likely that within a few weeks there won't even be a scar." _Not of body. But of mind... that is not easily healed with just a lick._

:_A lick, no. Do you trust me?_:

_Yes..._

Firming his grip on the teen's shoulders, he bent back to that vulnerable neck.

:_Gently. Gently..._:

Fangs gripped skin, just hard enough to give pressure without pain. Slowly, ever so slowly, he tightened that grip, and eased it; again and again, moving up and down neck and shoulder, covering every inch Virus had violated.

:_This is ours. Ours to care for. Ours to protect._

:_Our young one..._:

Yahiko's shivers slowed, relaxing into a kitten-limp slump in his arms. What had been panicky pants at the first touch of fangs eased to soft, steady breaths, broken only when the boy turned to snuggle into his purr.

Kenshin's brows lifted in amazement. _I didn't know you could purr!_

:_We have to be calm. At peace._: A silent smile. :_You help considerably, my own._:

"Kenshin?" Yahiko murmured muzzily. "Feel... all funny..."

Reluctantly, Kenshin lifted away his fangs enough to speak. "You're safe," he said softly. "Now, let's get some sleep."

The teen was a light, drowsy weight in his arms as Kenshin walked into his bedroom. And halted.

_I think I may as well burn that bed. _

:_If we want to sleep lying down without nightmares, I'm afraid it will have to be a futon,_: Battousai agreed with a sigh. :_I did try. It just feels wrong._:

Will _you_ relax? Kenshin thought sharply, plucking blankets and pillows up to make a nest for them both. _If tossing out the bed is the worst thing to happen for the rest of the week, I'll be thrilled._

A slow, wry smile wrapped his soul. :_True enough._:

"What'd you do?" Yahiko persisted sleepily as Kenshin settled them against the wall. "Feels warm... tingly..."

"Just a little accupressure," Kenshin murmured back, pulling up the blankets around them. _And no small amount of ki manipulation. What did we do?_

:_Reminded our cub who cares for him,_: Battousai said firmly. :_I've done it with Sano, in the past. For a time he will be attuned to us. He will draw off our energies to heal, just a little faster than humans heal; he will sense our watchfulness and relax, knowing he is protected. It will wear off soon enough, but the rest of this night, he should sleep without fear._: A hesitation. :_Though Yahiko's ki was much easier to encourage in the patterns we wished. And I think it will hold that shaping longer. He is your brother; his ki answers easily to my hand._:

_Our cub?_ Kenshin lifted a curious brow, feeling restlessness smooth into peaceful quiet as Yahiko fell asleep against him.

:_I..._:

Frowning, Kenshin waited.

:_None of my hosts ever had young ones to look after._:

Right; Target Alpha didn't want people taking the blade who'd have to explain what had happened to close family. _But why "cub"?_

:_I don't know,_: Battousai admitted reluctantly. :_It's just... something I feel._:

Huh. Weird.

_But worrying about it isn't going to solve anything,_ Kenshin told himself firmly. _Not tonight._

_And Yahiko's not the only one who needs sleep._

After all, he had a moocher planning to show up at the breakfast table tomorrow morning... make that, later this morning. Likely with Target Alpha files in hand.

Or even police files. Brr.

_Relax, and sleep,_ Kenshin told himself forcefully. _Detectives Goren and Eames can threaten all they like, but they've_ found _nothing. And there's nothing they will find._

_I hope..._

---------

"Firecrackers?" Detective Alexandrea Eames raised a blonde brow as her partner bent down to poke through charred ash in a corner of the alley behind _Wonderful Things_. "Here? Last night?" She blinked against the morning light, automatically tracking a small sound that turned out to be a white-and-gray pigeon fluttering up from a nearby roof edge. "I'm not sure the lieutenant would call this the most productive use of our time."

"You know, you're right," Detective Bobby Goren nodded, gloved hands turning over what looked like a small, blackened circuit board. "It's probably nothing. But, when you look at some back history of reports filed around this area... people around here seem to really _like_ firecrackers." He glanced up.

Alex gave him a look askance. "And exactly how would this tie into the Himura homicides?"

Bobby smiled shyly. "Missing persons reports seem to be up in this area."

"Gunshots," Alex said levelly.

"Which... doesn't explain where the bodies might have gotten to," Bobby shrugged. "Unless, of course, you look at the city plans and find out some of these shops have basements..."

"Really." Detective Eames eyed the battered back door to _Wonderful Things_. "Looks like somebody wanted in - in a very bad way."

"Kind of... an odd way to do it, though," Goren said thoughtfully, tracing his hand above long gouges; as if someone had raked steel with adamantine fingernails. "If you've got the tools to do this to a fire door, why not just punch the lock?"

Then again...

"New lock," Bobby observed.

"Very new," Alex agreed, studying that brassy brightness. "Last night?"

Her partner shrugged. "Thing is, _Wonderful Things_ doesn't have a basement. But down there..."

Following him down the alley, Alex rattled the handle on another shop's back door, eyeing the yellow _Police Line - Do Not Cross_ tape and seals plastered across the doorway. Recent seals; at least one had been applied over another whose soggy edges hinted it had been broken during last night's rain. "Interesting."

"Zip Electronics." Bobby flipped through his notes. "Owned - well, _was_ owned - by Renfield Paige Orsson. Who just recently turned up as an accidental drug overdose. Coroner made his finding, the body was apparently cremated... and the property is still closed for further investigation."

"Investigation by who?" his partner wondered dryly.

Goren's smile thinned. "Uramura and tBuku."

"Ah, our mystery DEA agents." Alex rolled her eyes. "Are they claiming this is another Spider's Web case?"

"I guess we'll have to ask." Giving the broken seal a last look, Bobby headed back toward the gouged fire door. "You know, even with... firecrackers... going off, this should have made a lot of noise."

"You'd think," Alex nodded. And given someone had noticed enough to replace the lock... "Know anybody who needs a knickknack?"

"I don't sell knickknacks, that I do not."

For a homicide suspect, Himura looked amazingly unruffled by their presence.

Goren tilted his head, studying the redhead standing in the now open doorway. "You have a camera for back here?"

"Pidge had one. I do not."

_Then how did you know we were here?_ Alex wondered. "Pidge?"

"Orsson." Violet saddened. "Agent Sagara... informed me what had happened to him." A wry, fleeting smile touched his face. "You may as well come in, and look about."

"We don't mean to bother you-" Bobby began politely.

"Yes, you do." The smile lasted longer this time. "You mean to be subtle, and not upset one you wish to investigate. Until you wish me to be upset. But I am here, and you are here, and all of us will waste less time if you simply poke about as you wish; that we will." Inclining his head, Himura turned on his heel and walked back inside. Leaving the door open.

"You know, I think we're low on his priority list," Bobby murmured, stepping up to the doorway.

"I think I'm insulted," Alex muttered back, following her partner in. And got her first good look inside. "Then again..."

Himura had obviously cleaned up most of the mess, but something _had_ gotten through his back door. With malice aforethought.

_Something that dripped oil?_ Absently listening to Himura head into the front to answer a customer's questions on porcelain vases, Alex went to one knee on tough linoleum, studying the trace of brown-black stain left behind.

Bobby closed and locked the door, then joined her, right hand braced on the storage shelves to hunker down for a good look. "Almost looks like cast-off."

Alex blinked. _Cast-off oil?_ Liquid shed off a weapon as it moved, as blood would be from any knife or tire iron that broke skin? Sometimes her partner was _weird..._

But then again, the weirder he got, the more likely he was to be right.

Setting aside her assumptions, she looked at the stain again, looking about for others that might corroborate Bobby's intuitive leap. There... there... and, yes, there. All blurred by cleanser, fading out most of the brown. But the original shapes lingered like ghostly fingerprints; and that ghost was...

_Something the size of a tall man, with oil on it, tears open the door. It rushes in - only to be met by someone about Himura's height, swinging a long, blunt object two-handed and overhand. Head hit, shoulder hit; Oil-man falls. Still gripping the weapon, the defender turns and runs._

"There should be blood."

"Who says there isn't?" Alex muttered. "I'll call Crime Scene, get some Luminol down here-"

Bobby shook his head. "If he'd cleaned it up that well, I don't think we'd be able to see this."

True; the kind of scrubbing you needed to take blood out of sight should have smeared cast-off into unreadable blurs. "Oil with blood, maybe," Alex said skeptically. "Oil instead of blood?"

"What can I say? They were serious heavy metal freaks."

As one, the two detectives glanced up at a familiar grinning face. "Agent Sagara," Bobby smiled at the man, buying time for them both to think.

Alex took that moment to look Uramura's co-worker over, from the red headband tying back Sanosuke Sagara's rooster-wild dark hair, past the black-trimmed white jacket, down to the white slacks and duct-tape-decked sneakers. _I'd hate to see where he goes in undercover._ Scuttlebutt said one of the reason's tBuku's branch of the DEA was so off-the-books and paranoid was because they walked into some of the most lethal dives in the city, up to and including the little-known Death Row. Whole rock bands had sauntered into that place and never come out. _And Homicide's never been able to come up with a shred of evidence, even when we know that's the last place anyone saw them - alive..._

"So, you heard about this incident?" Bobby went on.

"Oh, I was here; that's why you guys didn't get the call," Sagara said easily. "Whole bunch of jerks trying to bring new meaning to Walk Like an Egyptian." He shrugged, hands in his pockets. "Or at least, that's what I'm guessing they were up to. They didn't say much."

Alex traded a subtle glance with her partner. "So you saw how they broke in."

"Not really," the agent admitted. "They must have taken their toys with them when they booked out of here. Kenshin swings a mean bokken."

_Kenshin, hmm?_ "You seem to be a pretty good terms with Mr. Himura," Alex stated, keeping her voice light and interested. "Oh, I'm sorry, that would be Mr. _Noguchi_..."

"No, it's Himura," Sagara said matter-of-factly. "Look. Thomas and Eileen Noguchi may have pulled some serious wool over people's eyes seventeen years ago, but their kid's paperwork _is_ legal. Until and unless Kenshin decides to change it - and between you, me, and the wallpaper, I don't think he will - he's Kenshin Himura."

"Why wouldn't he change it?" Alex wondered. "He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who wants to go around lying to people. Even by implication."

She could all but see Bobby's hidden smile.

Sagara didn't bother trying to hide a wry roll of eyes. "Look, you know and I know Himura's one of the good guys. Can't you just let sleeping justifiable homicide cases lie?"

"That's kind of odd. That you would say he's one of the good guys, I mean," Bobby spoke up, studying the agent. "Someone like yourself, in our line of work... after all, you've only known him - how long? A week?"

"What, you never met someone and felt like you'd known 'em forever?" Sagara shrugged. "Besides, he's picking it up fast."

"He's assisting in your investigation?" Alex's brows climbed. "Orsson's death _was_ Spider's Web, then."

"You know I'm not the guy to talk to about that," Sagara said levelly.

"Well, someone's going to have to talk to us, sometime," Bobby spread casual hands. "Just in case our jurisdictions cross and - you know, in case we end up picking up someone you really need left alone..."

"Well, if you guys had to pick 'em up, it wouldn't look right if you didn't, right?" Sagara's grin would have fit right in on a Hell's Angel in the middle of a bar-fight. "You done here?"

Alex traded a subtle glance with her partner. "We'll see you around."

Sagara nodded. "We'll be waiting."

"We will, hmm?" Alex muttered as they worked their way back down the alley. "Pretty fast to step in for an _innocent_ civilian."

"Sagara's legally adopted." Bobby's eyes were bright and guileless. "According to the records - which there aren't many of - he lost his family, and his memory, when he was a kid. Some kind of massive bus accident. No way to pick out who they were, or even who he was. At least, not then. Though there might be now, if someone saved the DNA. Which they probably didn't, if it was an accident..."

Sometimes, her partner made no sense whatsoever. At least at first glance. _Sagara doesn't know who he was, and Himura_ didn't _know who he was-_ "Don't tell me they're long-lost cousins."

"No, no; I don't think _related,_ exactly," Bobby said thoughtfully, hands in his trenchcoat pockets. "They don't look that much alike. Even Himura's photo, before he had red hair, didn't. But _connected_... we still don't have real detail on Thomas Noguchi's history. Yet."

Yet. Definitely yet. But something else about her partner's observation jumped out at her. "You mean, before he dyed it red."

"Did it look dyed?"

Alex's first impulse was to say _yes;_ no one went from brown to red overnight-

And then she thought about it, with the expertise of one who'd seen people in every stage of life, and death, from the velvet draping of high society to the gutter-glitter of streetwalkers. Dye, even really good dye, gave hair an odd sameness, without the myriad shades and imperfections of natural color.

Himura's wasn't dye-red. It was flame-red, living scarlet pulled back into a semi-tame ponytail. It glimmered. Drew the eye. Fit, with that exotic violet gaze, in a way plain brown never would have. "Huh."

"It's probably nothing," Bobby admitted.

"Like the firecrackers," Alex shrugged. And traded a smile with her partner, both knowing what the other wasn't saying.

But this was New York, and they had other cases to work. Homicides with a lot more evidence, and a lot more official heat, than a couple of probable self-defense bodies of known lowlifes.

Himura would have to wait.

---------

Sanosuke rolled a kink out of his shoulders, waiting for the shop's front door to swing shut behind the expensively-frowsy woman with her new replica Ming vase. "How much of that did you hear?"

"All of it, I think." Kenshin gave him a wary look. "Pidge's death is being explained as due to a drug?"

_Yeah, I don't like it either._ But what could they do? Tell the cops he'd been done in by bad guys straight from a Trekkie convention? "Spider's Web is Kin-based. And it saves us a lot of questions." _Like why we had to torch the body._ Target Alpha was pretty sure you had to have a living Virus to Infect another hapless bystander. But _pretty sure_ wasn't one hundred percent certain, and when it came to a kind of Kin that might be taking part of its essence straight out of humanity's recent nightmares... well, some of the things TV had had the Borg do lately made anything short of obliterating a dead Virus way too risky, in Sano's book.

_And speaking of book._ Sano grinned at Kenshin.

"No."

"I didn't say anything," Sano said innocently.

"And I'm hoping you don't, that I am," Kenshin said dryly.

"It's _just_ for fun..."

"Children learn by example," Kenshin pointed out. "I have a younger brother to think of. Who's already learned a few too many words from _your_ example, that he has. No!"

"I didn't say take him _with_ us," Sano said patiently. Scratched his head. "Though that might not be a bad idea, you can never start learning how to handle these wiseguys too young-"

"Sano!"

"We don't know what Virus wants, but we know it had a good grip on that Root Magic," the agent shrugged. "Falconi thinks it's part of a larger network; maybe some way of accessing a whole pool of magic. If it is, then somebody mislaid a coven's worth of Witches. Even in New York, you don't see that every day. Someone somewhere has got to know something. And if you want to put an ear to the ground to hear a whole bunch of somethings, gambling in the back rooms is a good place to start." Sano grinned. "Plus with 'Sai along, we usually walk out with the expense cash we walked in with." If not a little more, depending on how playful the sakabatou was feeling. Play that could turn downright vicious if some sore loser of a Kin tried to manipulate the dice too obviously. Battousai might not be fond of gambling, but he had no compunctions about shearing a cheat right down to the skin.

Kenshin was shaking his head. "I'm not that kind of person, that I am not!"

_Which is exactly why I want to start you off there, instead of throwing you to the sharks in a place like Death Row,_ Sano thought practically. _You're Kin now. You need to get used to working around these bastards without stabbing them through the heart. No matter how much some of them deserve it._ "I know what that Root Magic feels like. If we run into a trace of it, we can see what it links to; if not, we still might hear something that traces back to Virus," he said patiently. "Look. I know it's not how you planned to spend tonight, but I _know_ you can do this." _I hope._

"Sano-"

The front doorbell rang.

Kenshin sighed silently. "Can I help you?"

"We'll see." Gray eyes narrowed above a dark suit that likely cost more than Sano made in a week. "Mr. Lantham has a standing order with this establishment for custom stationary?" His tone doubted there was any such thing.

"Yes, he does," Kenshin nodded, heading behind the counter. "I'll need to see some ID."

_Lantham? Why do I know that name?_ Sano made himself unobtrusive by a wall display. Battousai's memory was better than his, if 'Sai _wanted_ to remember something; better to sit tight, for now, and watch how his partner would handle this.

At the moment, 'Sai seemed content to linger behind Kenshin's eyes, watching the snippy suit turn pretty colors. "For _paper?_" the suit ground out.

"Well, I'm certain you wouldn't want Mr. Lantham's custom order going to someone else by mistake..."

Frowning, Sano centered himself, reaching out for how magic looked in the world. _Aha._

And if he could see that malevolent dark purple aura around the suit, Battousai definitely would have sensed it.

_Tastes like magic, not just Kin. A Sorcerer. _

Which jarred that nagging almost-memory into a case-file in his head: Victor Lantham, AKA Herbert Rush, AKA Hieronymous. Low to mid-level sorcerer in Black Solstice, one of the more annoying of many, many groups obsessed with taking over the world.

_Probably 'cause the idiots can't get a date any other way,_ Sano thought wryly.

Known demon-summoner, at least two counts of rape using Compel, suspected in a half-dozen homicides, consider armed and dangerous, terminate with prejudice. Yep. Definite sleazeball. And not one they'd met, or Sano would have left a meteorite bullet in the bastard's heart to make _sure_ he died the True Death.

This guy wasn't Lantham. But his aura didn't look much more human. _So what are you up to?_

"Smythe," Kenshin murmured, opening a small blue notebook and running his finger down a list of names. "I'm sorry, sir, you're not on the list. Mr. Lantham will have to send someone else, or come in himself."

"But you _see_ my _ID_."

A ripple in violet; Sano held his breath. He'd seen Battousai resist magic before, but there was always a first time.

"And I see you are not on the list," Kenshin said levelly, closing the notebook. "Is there anything else I can help you with? If you are interested in that type of handmade paper, I can place an order. Though that may take some time; paper mulberry with organic dyes is very popular-"

At which point the idiot wizling tried something even dumber than a Compel: grabbing Battousai.

_There's going to be blood all over the walls._

But Kenshin only looked at the hand gripping his shoulder, and sighed. "One does hope you've determined that will not work, that I do."

Still obviously trying to Drain, the suit's grip only tightened. "You're not a Herd!"

"Whaddya know. A sorcerer who can see the obvious," Sano said lightly, cracking his knuckles. "Now, Smythe - or whoever you really are - my partner's a really nice guy. He'd probably be just as happy if you let go, said you're sorry, and walked right out that door. Me?" Sano grinned, shark-like. "I get a little touchy when somebody tries to munch on my friends."

Smythe smirked back. And grabbed for the register.

_Bastard's trying to power up a Con-Ed-_

A fist and a hilt hit him at once.

"Ow, damn it!" Sano shook out his stinging hand as Smythe's eyes crossed and the suit crumpled. He'd hit bricks that felt softer. "Must have had a Deflection up." He caught Kenshin's puzzled frown. "What?"

"Deflection." Kenshin's eyes were distant as he came out from behind the counter; probably checking with Battousai. "It is like most Kin's Armor, _hai?_"

"Yeah." Only you couldn't cut through it with anything other than a meteorite. "So?"

"Why did it not stop me?"

Locking cuffs on Smythe's wrists, Sano shrugged. "How should I know?" He leaned the dazed wizling against the counter and dug into his jacket pockets for his bane kit. _Silver needles... ironwood soaked in garlic... ah._ Grinning, he waved a silk-wrapped shred of meteorite in front of Smythe's eyes, and was rewarded with a heartfelt gulp.

Locking the bit of space rock into the bane-box on the handcuffs, Sano stepped away and lowered his voice so they wouldn't be overheard. "Why are you even asking? Battousai's enchanted. Armor doesn't even slow him down. Never has."

"Battousai," Kenshin said plainly, "is a _blade,_ Sano. Not a hilt."

"What do you mean he's-" Sano stopped, remembering those few times he'd cleaned the daisho. You didn't just wipe off the edge, not if you were being thorough. You took the sword apart; hilt, _tsuba,_ and all. Depending on how nasty the night had been, you might even have to replace everything but the blade. Ward had had to replace Battousai's tsuba, at least once.

"The blade is enchanted," Kenshin agreed. "But what struck him was not." He glanced aside. "Though perhaps I am fretting too much over something that does not matter. Yahiko would say so, I know."

_Maybe. Maybe not._ Battousai was _different_ in Kenshin's hands.

Not a comforting thought.

_Later. Right now - slimebag._ "So." He raised his voice enough for the handcuffed idiot to hear. "You pressing charges on this guy?"

"Don't be idiotic," Smythe sneered. "What would you possibly tell them?"

Red bangs fell forward, hiding violet. "I _might_ tell them nothing." The voice was chill, dispassionate. "Save that I found your cooling body abandoned behind my door."

Smythe stiffened. Started to speak-

Stopped, looking at the slight man in front of him.

Sano hid a smirk of his own, watching the calculation in gray eyes. _You can almost hear the gears grind,_ he thought wryly. _Yep; red hair, claws, samurai sword, Kin that's up and about in daylight-_

Smythe's face was puzzled. "What are you?"

Sano blinked. "How long have you been in town? C'mon, he's-"

A twitch of Kenshin's hand stopped him. Red bangs fell aside, revealing a steel-blue gaze. "I take it you've not met many Rakshasa, that you haven't."

The sorcerer's head jerked toward the golden light streaming through the front windows. "But - it's-"

"Interesting, how easy it is to get UV-proof glass these days."

Sano held his brows down, even when they wanted to bounce up in pure surprise. _A real out-of-towner, if he buys that one._ Though it wasn't a bad bluff on Battousai's part. Rakshasa weren't common. Even a well-rounded sorcerer might not know more than that they were a kind of Asian vampire with permanent claws. _Smooth, 'Sai. Now we_ know _he's not Solstice._

Steel-blue didn't waver. "I do not favor one customer over another, Smythe. Nor do I allow one to _interfere_ with another."

Smythe smirked. "You'll change that tune, soon enough. When Kanryuu-" his mouth shut, as if an unseen hand had locked it.

Which one just might have, Sano knew. Black Solstice used Omerta spells. Stood to reason anyone who thought they could cross them would as well.

"Perhaps," Kenshin said softly, as if he hadn't noticed. "But not today." He gestured toward the door. "Go."

Sano unlocked the cuffs, and stepped back. _Make one wrong move, bozo. I dare you._

"I wouldn't stand in his way, if I were you." Smythe deliberately straightened his shirt cuffs. "One Kin, and a _human_..."

Kenshin smiled. "I believe that is what Virus thought, last night."

Smirk slipping, Smythe edged out the door.

Kenshin buried his head in his hands the moment the sorcerer was out of sight, taking a shuddering breath.

"It's okay." Sano kept his voice low, reassuring, even as he marked by eye exactly where Smythe had laid his hands on the counter. He'd have to go out to the car for his fingerprint kit. Not that most Kin were in the system, but you never knew. They might get lucky. "You did good, Kenshin. You did fine."

"I didn't know," Kenshin said softly. "I didn't _know._ If I'd known, I would have - oh gods, Sano, he's done such horrible things, and it's my fault..."

Huh? They'd never seen Smythe before in their lives-

_Oh. Hells. I'm an idiot._

One thing a lot of Target Alpha agents had never gotten was, there were two sets of memories at work in his partner. Battousai's, and his bearer's. And 'Sai had said more than once there were limits to what he could deliberately drag up in his host's memory, and vice-versa. Until one of them thought about something, the other might not even know he knew it.

Kenshin had a standing order for Lantham. Just another piece of _Wonderful Things'_ business. Too ordinary to even think about. Until now.

_Handmade paper. Just the kind of thing you want for writing Deeds,_ Sano thought grimly, looking at Kenshin's horrified pallor. _And Battousai's read Lantham's file._ "Go find Kaoru."

"But- the shop-"

"Will still be standing when you get back," Sano cut him off. Though he was starting to have his doubts about that. He'd read up on _Wonderful Things'_ history since he'd found out who Kenshin Himura was; through all the decades Target Alpha had watched it serve the human and Kin community, there had never been an instance of Kin attacking the shop owner. Ever.

_But since Jin-e came through, this place has been a demilitarized zone,_ Sano realized. _What the heck happened? It's not like the local Elementals just up and vanished; they're still blurring Edge-use around here. They're just - not protecting Kenshin anymore..._

Nasty thought. Very nasty. And not one he wanted to poke at with a still-reluctant partner trying not to shake himself to pieces. "Go find Kaoru," Sano said, more gently. "You know how much trouble Jou-chan and your brother can get into." He glanced at the sheathed blade. "'Sai, get him moving."

"Sanosuke!"

"It wasn't your fault," the agent said bluntly. "You didn't know. But now you do. And maybe I haven't known you that long, Kenshin, but I know Battousai. I _know_ he wouldn't have picked you if you were the kind of guy who could just shake this off and keep going like nothing happened." He waved a hand toward the door. "So go. Get out of here. Go _think_. And do it somewhere Jou-chan can pick up the pieces."

Almost involuntarily, Kenshin moved toward the front door. Stopped almost on the threshold, fists clenched. "I've killed people, Sano." _And I never knew,_ that desolate tone said. _I should have known._

"If they didn't buy it from you, they'd have gotten it from somebody else," Sano stated. "Deeds don't kill people. Idiot spell-casters kill people."

"I would I could believe that, that I do."

Swift as thought, he was gone.

"Don't let him do anything stupid, 'Sai," Sano murmured. "Damn, if I could just be in two places at once..."

Then again, if he was reading that flinch right, Kenshin wouldn't see _Sanosuke_ right now. He'd see yet another cold-blooded Target Alpha field agent, willing and able to deal with the dark side of Kin nature without so much as raising an eyebrow. No; if he really wanted his partner in one semi-sane piece, he was probably the last guy who should be anywhere near Kenshin. _Any_ field agent would be.

_Any_ field _agent._ A wry grin spread over Sano's face as he pulled his cell phone out and hit speed-dial. "Hey, Itachi-jou! Want to come onto the island for a bit?"

_"Don't call me weasel girl!" _

---------

Translations and info:

_Aa_ - informal yes.

_Armor_ - a Kin Edge that can reduce damage from most sources, except something the Kin is magically vulnerable to.

_Bakufu_ - "tent government"; the shogunate.

_Chounin_ - townsfolk.

_Compel_ - street magic spell to control another's actions.

_Con-Ed_ - magical lightning strike.

_Daijoubu_ - It's all right.

_Deed_ - written agreement binding a Demon to perform one service for a spellcaster.

_Deflection_ - spell to create a wall of magical force.

_Drain_ - to take energy - lifeforce, blood, whatever - from another being.

_Edge_ - a supernatural ability, such as Claws or Mesmerize (mind control). Noun and verb.

_Edokko_ - "child of Edo"; the city now called Tokyo.

_Hai_ - yes.

_Hari_ - "strength of character".

_Herd_ - human.

_Hitokiri_ - "manslayer".

_Iie_ - no.

_Iki_ - "refinement".

_Maa, maa_ - "easy; calm down".

_Nan demo nai_ - "It's nothing."

_Omerta_ - spell to prevent a member of an organization from disclosing secrets.

_Onmitsu_ - spy, spies.

_Rakshasa_ - Asian vampire subspecies with poison claws.

_The Death Row_ - a nightclub run by a malicious Kin called Razor.

_Tsuba_ - hilt guard.

_Ubo_ - Japanese vampire subspecies that changes into a butterfly instead of a bat or wolf, and is compelled to wear white.

_Wizling_ - minor magic user.


	3. Chapter 3

_It never fails,_ Kaoru thought, registering the eager glances of Maekawa's class as she sparred with one of his more advanced students. A bit of breeze from the doorway lifted her hair behind the protective mask; she frowned, but didn't take her eyes off her opponent long enough to wonder why that felt out of place. _Other days, these guys may show or not; but if they know I'm going to be here, they pack the place._

_Head, body, wrist-_ She sidestepped that last, though not by as much as she wanted. In truth, she was glad to be here; last night's mayhem had left adrenaline jittering through her veins even now, and this was a better way to work it out than assaulting random bike messengers. Besides, her skills could always use honing, and between the part-time instructor salary here, teaching Kamiya Kasshin herself, and a few temporary jobs, she made enough to get by.

_And it's good to see how one of my students measures up. _

Yahiko wasn't - quite - flopped on the ground like some of the younger students. But his strokes had that little shake that promised he'd be sore once class was over.

Which, with a sudden flurry of blows and a formal, parting bow to her opponent, it effectively was. A few minutes to cool down, the thanks to the gray-haired sensei and bowing out-

Kaoru's eyes swept the empty space near the dojo wall where relatives and guardians sometimes sat, and stopped on a blaze of red. _How did- when did he-?_

He was so _still._ Sitting _seiza_, as most students would; only without a flicker of the usual modern muscle-twitches from the traditional pose. Breathing almost imperceptible, as red bangs hid lowered eyes. Sheathed blade a proper, black arc to his right, curve facing toward him. A traditional _iaido_ gesture of trust and respect, here tainted with irony; unlike a katana, the sakabatou's sharp edge faced outward.

_On the surface, I am as you wish me to be,_ Kaoru read in that moment. _But go beyond a brush of my sleeves... and I'm not what you expect. Ever._

Careful as if she were approaching a wing-torn redtail, Kaoru walked up to him. Knelt. Looked at him, willing that violet gaze to lift, to be alive. "Kenshin." _I know you can feel me. I know you know I'm here._

A minuscule shake of head; then, slowly, haunted violet lifted. "Kaoru-dono..."

_Japanese again. Not good._ Over the past week she'd noticed a definite trend in Kenshin's speech. English tended to lose the upper hand at two extremes; either he was relaxed and happy - in which case, Battousai seemed to relax right along with him - or he was coiled tight as a new watch-spring.

Which usually meant Battousai was about two breaths from flattening whatever had hurt him.

_But he's not moving. Which means whoever hurt him, it's not here._ Blue stared into aching violet. _And then again... maybe it is._ Silently, Kaoru opened her arms.

He clung to her like a rock in a flood. She felt the tiny tremors in his muscles, the warm breath puff through her hair as he kept back a sob. "Tell me."

A soft, bitter _ha_ escaped his lips. "I have a felon for a customer," Kenshin said, almost too soft to hear. "I may have several."

It wasn't funny. Not with that pain in his voice. It really wasn't. "Um, Kenshin... this is _New York._"

Violet blinked at her, wide and betrayed-

Closed again, over a wry, bittersweet smile. "Of course," he nodded, hugging her tighter. "Of course it is."

"That doesn't make it right!" Kaoru said hastily. He was hurting, she could see it... and she didn't know how to make it right. Which made her angry. Which wasn't going to help. Which made her even angrier. _Deep breath. Good._ "It just - well - you never know, Kenshin. You can try to be a good person, you can try to deal with just good people, but you never _know._" Blue eyes sought his as he loosened his grip. "You didn't know, right?"

"But I should have." Kenshin let go, hands retreating to his lap. "That tales of their deeds go unknown, is... not enough to lift the stain."

"Wait a minute!" Kaoru said hastily. "You mean these are the-" _Eep! Careful!_ "-the kind of bad guys Sano chases?"

Hesitantly, he nodded.

"Well - that's..." Kaoru trailed off, reddening as the full weight of logic crashed down. "Are you telling me you're beating yourself up over helping bad guys you didn't even know _existed?_"

"Er..."

_"Kenshin no baka!" _

"Oro!"

He was fast, she'd give him that. Side-stepping swings and thrusts, red hair fluttering away from every head shot. Changing direction and speed like a leaf in a skirl of autumn wind, face gradually working its way from alarm, to concentration, to the ghost of a smile.

"Kaoru?" a startled voice rang across the dojo.

_Oops._ Kaoru lowered her bokken, offering a weak grin to Maekawa-sensei. "Just a little discussion."

"The _shihandai_ makes a very pointed argument, that she does," Kenshin said innocently.

Miyauchi Maekawa glanced at them both, unconvinced. Even his mustache looked skeptical. "Young man, I think I knew your father well enough to say you're either overdressed, or late."

_Oh, good, he's going to let it go._ Kaoru's sigh of relief turned into a muffled yelp of alarm. _Late? As in, to the class? Oh no, oh no-_

"Er..." Kenshin glanced down at himself as if he'd completely forgotten what he was wearing; hakama and gi that, save for being white and red instead of indigo and white, blended right in with the rest of the departing students.

_He probably_ did _forget,_ Kaoru realized. _When it comes to a fight, Battousai takes every advantage that's not nailed down._ Souryuusen - _it saved my life. But drawing the sheath from the_ obi, _fast enough to strike..._

Even if he could do that in street clothes and a leather belt, and Kaoru suspected he probably _could,_ it'd be slower.

_Maybe slow enough to get me killed. Or Yahiko. _

And when it came to Yahiko, Kaoru was beginning to understand, Kenshin flat-out didn't _care_ what the rest of the world thought. Claws? Fine. Fangs? Whatever. Drinking blood? He'd deal with it. So long as Yahiko was upright and breathing, Kenshin could deal with anything.

Dressing like a stray wanderer who'd never figured out the Tokugawa Shogunate had fallen, using just a touch of magic so most people's eyes skated across without noticing he didn't fit the crowd... no, Kenshin probably _hadn't_ noticed. Or cared.

Blushing lightly, Kenshin shook his head. Walked back to Battousai, thrusting the sheathed blade under the first winding of his obi with self-conscious ease. "I thank you for the offer. But I'm usually working at this hour, that I am."

"And every other hour," Yahiko grumbled. "So how'd you break loose and end up here?" The teen gave his brother a look that seriously doubted Kenshin's hold on sanity. "You left _Sano_ in charge of the store?"

"It seemed the most reasonable thing to do, that it did," Kenshin said sheepishly. "There was an incident."

Three sets of eyes blinked at him.

"Er... a misunderstanding?"

Maekawa glanced to make sure the rest of the students were either gone or out of earshot, then turned a wry glance on the redhead. "How many broken bones of one?"

Kenshin flinched, almost imperceptibly. "Maekawa-sensei..."

"I did know your parents. As much as anyone did," Maekawa added, half to himself. "Eileen had a temper and Thomas had a tendency to want problems solved the first time. I doubt you take after the one less than the other." He lifted a gray brow. "And given you left a federal agent to deal with the situation..."

Kenshin sighed. "I'm not certain if Smythe's intent was robbery, or information theft by use of force. He left bruised, but he left. I do not _think_ he has any reason to pursue this outside my shop, but..." He shrugged.

_You didn't want Yahiko going home alone,_ Kaoru filled in the blank.

From the teen's reddening face, he'd figured it out as well. "I can take care of myself, damn it!"

"Yeah?" A bright, cheery voice echoed off the walls, bouncing like the long black braid of the Goth ninja girl skipping through the dojo door. "I keep telling Sano that. Does he listen? 'Carry your mace, Itachi-jou. Don't go into alleys, Itachi-jou. Stay away from the lawyers, Itachi-jou, you never know which ones are possessed.' Hey, Battousai!"

Kaoru's jaw dropped as the girl she'd never seen before in her life grabbed Kenshin and gave him a quick, exuberant hug. "Feel better now that you told off the lab? That was just _awesome!_" Another squeeze, and she let go, green eyes dancing around the dojo. "Is this a good place? I _miss_ hand-to-hand with you guys! I mean, I know you always had to work things out with Ward before, and maybe you still do, kind of... um..." The ninja looked at Kenshin's blush, and the other three's goggle-eyed stare. "Hi...?"

"Miss Kaoru, Yahiko, Maekawa-sensei - Misao Makimachi," Kenshin sighed. "She is a... co-worker of Agent Sagara's."

"You can _say_ lab rat, you know," Misao rolled her eyes. "You find the evidence, I take it apart and give you the bits back to nail the bad guys." She grinned at Kaoru. "So you're Kamiya! Sano said you were cool. Well, he didn't say _cool,_ exactly," Misao admitted, hand waving in a visual back-tracking circle. "He was in one of his grumble moods, the bad guys crawled under rocks and tBuku doesn't want him to go breaking them 'cause of the ongoing cases, nobody loves me, I want to pound somebody - well, you know. Barfightsville. But he said you came through that mess with Kurogasa with less shakes than most of the rookies we get. Pretty impressive."

"Lab rat?" Yahiko said, stunned. "Whoa, like CSI?"

"Yeah!" She flashed the teen a bright smile. "Want to check it out sometime? I bet we could get you in, you have _got_ to see what we can do with paint guns and atomized liquid - ooo, I can't wait to get my hands on that new germanium-silver alloy!"

Kaoru blinked as Misao steamrollered the teen toward his gear, talking a mile a minute. "You just met her?"

"Last night," Kenshin confirmed. "She's very friendly, that she is." A shy smile passed over his face, fleeting as a cloud. "And very much still in love with a man gone missing about five years ago. I don't think she's so much as looked for a date since, that she hasn't."

_Oh. Good._ Kaoru ran that thought through her head again, and decided she wasn't going to think about it. _Just... good._

"Battousai?" Maekawa asked, more pointedly.

Kenshin shrugged slightly. "Sano seems to have stuck me with that nickname, that he has."

Maekawa looked as if he'd swallowed a live cricket. "Does he have _any_ idea what that means?"

"...Yes."

The older man looked the redhead up and down, gray brow arched. "A young man could get into a great deal of _trouble_ with a nickname like that."

Cheeks pink, Kenshin nodded.

Maekawa glanced at Kaoru, then turned a considering gaze back on Kenshin. "I doubt your father ever changed his mind."

_Any child with his great-grandfather's eyes was too dangerous to pick up a blade,_ Kaoru recalled, ghost-scents of Maekawa's kitchen wafting through her memory. _Thomas thought Shinta - Kenshin - should never learn kendo._

_But that doesn't make sense! You don't make people safe by keeping them in the dark. _

_Like Target Alpha keeps us in the dark about Kin..._

Kenshin ducked his head, sheepish as a man who'd dropped the cookie jar. "A friend of Sano's offered to teach me. I did not truly think I would be any good at it."

Maekawa frowned. "A friend?"

"He prefers anonymity, that he does."

"Some of our people go undercover a lot," Misao chipped in, a bemused Yahiko trailing in her wake. "They get used to not giving out their names. You guys ready?"

"For what?" Kaoru managed, startled.

"We're going to raid the agency computers!" Misao shook her fists in glee. "Won't that be _cool?_"

---------

"Are you sure we're supposed to be doing this?" Yahiko asked suspiciously as the four of them crowded into a public library's small study carrel, watching Misao's fingers fly over the keyboard of her own laptop.

_Make that, the_ five _of us,_ Misao grinned inwardly. "Of course! Daedalus wouldn't do us much good if we didn't use it, right?"

"Daedalus?" Kaoru asked in an undertone.

"The agency's mainframe," Kenshin filled in. "Battousai has no real love for computers, but he does know a few passwords to access certain useful files."

"Some of which I carved a path for you to, thank you," Misao winked at the sword. "Didn't get a chance to say this last night, but it's nice to see you up and around... er... um?"

Kenshin had drawn the blade, then the saya. Which he promptly tipped upside-down.

Something small and metallic thumped to the library carpet.

"Sano did not know where I was going," the redhead said quietly, "only that I meant to find Miss Kaoru. Which means you would have needed a way to find me."

"Heh." Misao felt her smile flicker on and off, as Kenshin regarded the small device with tired annoyance. "I - ah - guess Sano didn't tell you..."

"That he did not, no," Kenshin said levelly. Picked up the miniaturized GPS tracker, and gave her a look.

_Make that, a Look,_ Misao thought, trying not to shrink from the glimmer of amber in violet. _Oh yeah. Battousai is definitely in there._ "Come on, you know the rules! Field agents always carry a locator on assignment. And Battousai's _always_ on assignment. That's how it works. That's how-" She looked away, suddenly trying not to cry. "I _missed_ you, you know that? The rest of the lab, they don't understand learning how to defend yourself. 'You don't _really_ think you could take on a Kin. That's what control teams are for.' And if I talk about Aoshi-" She sniffled, scrubbed at her nose with the back of her hand.

"I know." Soft. Cool.

Familiar, even if it was another's voice.

Like a kitten-pat, the clawed hand touched her face. Red bangs fell forward, casting shadow over a faint smile. "I worried about you too, little Weasel. And I am glad to see you well." Amusement glimmered in amber. "Even if you did resort to such unmannerly means to track us."

"Weasel-!" Misao shook a loose fist near his face. "You and Sano, I swear-"

"Aoshi?" Kaoru asked warily.

"A young man who vanished five years ago, shortly before he would have finished his Master's degree," Battousai informed her. "Evidence left near the dojo he was last seen at indicated Kin were involved. Once in a while a report of someone matching his description surfaces, but so far..." Red hair shook.

"He's not dead," Misao said firmly. "I'd _know._"

"I believe you, Misao-dono. You have a bright spirit, and it reaches out, even into the pathless dark." Another kitten-touch. "I will not say, do not believe. But remember to breathe. To be, here and now, where there are those who care for you."

Misao blinked as the web-page she wanted came up, inputting passwords almost by pure reflex. _Okay. Officially weirded out now._

She'd known Battousai, and Ward, almost from the first day she'd spent on the job in the agency labs. Hard to forget the guy who'd handed her a clear plastic box with a pair of eyeballs in it. _Moving_ eyeballs, smearing blood as they floated and rolled, that wanted very much to break their way out and Drain anything in their path to stay aloft.

"Wildeyes," Ward had bitten out. "It should be temporarily dead by dawn. We need DNA samples off the outside so we can match it to the victim. Indisputably. Run whatever else you can think of, but have it contained before sunset."

Misao stared into the box. The eyeballs stared back, all blood-smeared whites and brown irises, pupils tight in what she swore was impotent fury. "The victim?" she managed.

"Possessed."

The voice... was different.

She jerked her head up, staring into eyes suddenly inhuman amber. "It is," the agent said with that same uncanny chill, "What Wildeyes do. To control another's body, they must take its eyes, and replace them with their own. This victim was fortunate; we were able to stop the bleeding, and take her to a hospital. But I doubt she will think herself so, when she wakes to the knowledge that she is forever blind..." A quiet sigh. "Please be careful, Makimachi-san."

And then the agent stepped back, shaking himself like a dog shedding water. "Told you not to do that..." Ward saw her stunned shock, and scowled. "Yes. I'm possessed. Scream now and get it over with."

"I wasn't going to-" Misao stammered.

"You will. Everyone does." Fangs flashed in his bitter smile. "None of us is here because we _like_ Kin."

_He's angry,_ Misao thought. _Right down to the bone._

But Grandpa had taught her how to deal with angry people.

So she'd squared her shoulders, and given him a firm smile. "Want some coffee?"

Eventually, though not from Ward, she'd managed to piece together an outline of the situation: the snarly agent had been diagnosed with widespread cancer, likely due to carcinogen exposure from a Toxxixx, just about the time Battousai's last bearer had decided to give up the enchanted blade and die human. They'd had an uneasy alliance ever since; and outside of oddballs like Sano, who'd been raised Crowley, nobody in the agency willingly stayed in the same room with them. Much less sat down with them for coffee.

At the funeral, she'd been almost alone.

Sano had been there, of course. And DuBuccio; the Deputy Director might be harried and up to his neck in the latest Kin rumble, but he gave fallen agents the respect they deserved. One or two elderly ex-agents, with white hair and shifty eyes, who'd disappeared after the ashes were interred. Outside of that, no one.

"He outlived most of them," Sano said bluntly when she asked. "Heck, DuBuccio wasn't even out of high school when Ward and Battousai paired up. The rest of them... well, you know how it is when someone gets turned. Far as they were concerned, Ward was already dead."

She'd sat down and had a good cry after that. Maybe Ward hadn't been a nice person - _really_ not a nice person, he'd been one of those sneering voices telling her the best thing she could do against a Kin was hope to get caught in its teeth and choke it-

But. When she'd asked Battousai what she _could_ do in a fight, Ward hadn't stopped the sword from showing her. Most of the time, he'd even kept his mouth shut.

And it wasn't as if Battousai himself was a really nice person... sword... whatever. Oh, the blade looked after her, definitely; he felt honor-bound to protect those weaker than himself, and he seemed to take an uncomplicated joy in her company, much as the samurai of old would the sight of the moon, or a dance of autumn leaves in the wind. But the rest of the time? Cold. Ruthless. Lethal.

This... _gentleness_...

_Not going to scream,_ Misao told herself firmly now, calling up the files she wanted. _Just not._ "There! That's what we've got on Kanryuu. Boy; what is it about Connecticut that makes crooks so _mean?_" She grabbed Yahiko when the kid would have peered over Kenshin's shoulder. "Uh-uh! Himura can tell you what you have to know later. You need clearance to read those, and _you_ don't have it."

"Listen, you-" Kaoru started, reaching for her bokken.

"Miss Kaoru. Please." Violet regarded them both soberly. "Miss Misao's only doing her job, that she is."

"We'll be outside," Kaoru said after a moment. "Come on, Yahiko."

"Stupid rules," Yahiko grumbled as Misao closed the carrel door behind the three of them. "Where's a _girl_ get off telling us - we wouldn't be _in_ this mess if it wasn't for Target Alpha-"

"Keep your voice down!" Kaoru said fiercely, before Misao could. "Just because it's daylight, doesn't mean it's safe."

"Definitely not in the library," Misao nodded, moving them along to a desk in the corner where they could steal a few chairs and still have privacy. "Think about it, kid. Sano told me a long time back, there's only a few places aboveground a Kin can hole up and be pretty sure no one's going to come looking or pull a blind back to let the sun in. And two of them are theaters, and public libraries."

"Oh." Yahiko's voice was almost inaudible.

"You didn't know," Misao shrugged, sitting backwards on a wooden chair. "Now you do. And now I want to know; how long has he been like this?"

Kaoru and Yahiko looked at each other. "Like what?" Yahiko asked warily.

"This _nice!_" Misao reached for the words that might tell these two civilians turned Crowley just how badly the roof had fallen in. Her cheek still tingled, echoing that gentle touch. "I _know_ Battousai. He's a friend; okay, maybe a little chillier than most people would call friend material, but he definitely beats some of the lunkheads under Uramura. Just - he's _not_ nice!"

Another exchange of glances. Kaoru dragged another chair from the opposite side of the desk, and sat down herself. "He seemed colder before, but I thought that was just because of being hunted, and Sano," the kendo teacher said, almost to herself. "After he got me back, and we were all safe, he was fine. Still not what you'd expect from Kenshin-"

Leaning against the wall, Yahiko rolled his eyes. "Mr. 'Just shoo the wasp out the window, it's not its fault we don't want it here'? Uh, _yeah._"

"Kenshin's nice?" Misao asked carefully.

"Not like most people think of nice," Kaoru explained. "He doesn't try to sweet-talk you, or make you feel like you're the center of his universe, or anything. He's just there. And he listens."

"So... really nice," Misao said warily, taking in the kendo instructor's quiet smile, the teen's could-care-less shrug of shoulders. _Just wait ten years, kiddo. You-against-the-world attitude may draw in the cheerleader butterflies, but nice is what lasts._ "But Sano said some of the things you dealt with-" _Including Virus, oh man, I never want them to find me, never!_ "-it was Kenshin who handled it, not Battousai."

"And he hates to fight." Kaoru bit her lip, shoulders slumping. "Or... he _did_ hate to fight. Before. Now," she drew a breath, fingers clenching, then deliberately loosening. "He still doesn't like it. But I think he's finding that place inside my father used to talk about, where you're not angry, or upset. You just _are._"

Yahiko was glancing between them like a spectator at an extreme tennis tournament. "Whoa, whoa. You're saying that my _brother_-" he spread one hand, "-and Battousai-?" the other went out, then interlaced with the first.

Misao looked at interwoven fingers, then met Kaoru's troubled gaze. "Um..."

Knuckles rapped against a nearby shelf.

Misao started, swiveling to catch a sudden flame of red hair, standing politely out of earshot. For normal ears, at least.

Nodding to them all, Kenshin walked close enough to hand Misao her laptop. "We need to get moving."

Yahiko paled. "Oh no," Kaoru whispered. "Not again."

Kenshin blinked at them, then ducked his head, sheepish. "Er, no," he said firmly. "Everything is fine, Miss Kaoru, that it is. Truly. It's only... there isn't that much information on Kanryuu, outside the fact that he's a human businessman who's suspected of shady dealings with not only politicians, but Kin and human lawbreakers from the Mob on down. And if he's not well known, and his associates are not, then perhaps it's not wise to be out in plain view if he bears a grudge. At least," he added wryly, "Not with the shopkeeper he'd most likely bear a grudge against." A slight shrug. "If you wished further time here, one would be quite willing to go on ahead-"

Kaoru tapped her bokken.

"Or not." The redhead took a slight step back. "_Anou,_ Kaoru-dono, some of the books are likely fragile-"

"Kenshin." Sweet. Level. Innocent.

The redhead flicked a glance at the carpet, as if hoping the riot of pale and dark browns that mingled to form an overall beige would swirl into an inter-dimensional portal for his escape. "...Yes?"

"If you're thinking of doing something sweet and noble and self-sacrificing, when we don't even know if this guy is looking for you-" Mild blue narrowed into stormy fury; Misao could all but see steam rising from the kendo instructor's ears. _"Don't."_

"Oro..."

---------

_"And the dice are thrown!"_ The half-dressed Wyght held his cup over the spotted cubes, withered grin full of sharp teeth. "Place your bets!"

"So, which is it?" Sano muttered, subtly poking his shoulder.

"Five and six," Kenshin murmured back, thinking of Kaoru, and Yahiko, and the dinner he'd much rather be sharing with them, instead of the restaurant snack plates he was currently finishing off with Sano's help. "Odd." _Though how I can know that when I barely looked-_

:_We predict a foe's movements on far subtler cues,_: Battousai shrugged within him. :_Reading the dice is easy._:

Kenshin fought the urge to glance around the Shuei-ya's private dining hall. It wouldn't have changed from the last time he looked; an early-night crowd of Kin and Crowleys gathered on the floor around a long gaming mat, snacking from a buffet of Oriental food, tea, sake, and various better-left-unnamed snacks and beverages. _And no one catches on?_

A silent laugh. :_They're all looking for Edges, my own. That's why the mat is laced underneath with needles of iron, silver, wood, and flint; not to mention embroidered with enough anti-magic runes to give a Sorcerer a rash just by touching it. But we're not using an Edge. Just my training._:

_You mean a human could do this?_

:_Rare humans, yes._: A slight hesitation. :_Though some have gotten suspicious when our luck is too good... it's just as well you're using a touch of distraction. Not all of New York knows I can take another host; if those here are willing to overlook who a redhead in company with Sanosuke Sagara might be, we may as well encourage that._:

Kenshin didn't quite roll his eyes. _Given that Sano said we were here to listen for rumors, yes, I would think so._

Wry humor brushed him. :_You'd be surprised what Kin will say, even if they do know I am present. I am frightening, yes - but a great many Kin think they are equally perilous._:

_"Think"?_

The flash of a fanged smile hung in his mind. Kenshin stifled a sigh. _And I thought Yahiko had an attitude._

:_Ah! Not fair, my own. Not at all fair._: A moment's irritation; but buried in the core, a flicker of understanding. :_Yahiko has the confidence of one who has never truly been left weaponless in the world; though Kamiya-sensei, and our own battles, are beginning to temper that. I know the odds I can face, and those I should retreat from, and those rare ones I must flee entirely._:

Kenshin raised a wry brow. _The odds_ you _can face?_

:_I know your strength._:

_I'm not strong-_

"Huh! Less than two weeks, and I know that look." Sano's hand clapped him on the shoulder. Kenshin winced, more out of memory than pain; it might be healed _now,_ but there had been steel through that flesh last week. "You're in here, you're around the usual crowd without screaming or thumping heads - you're doing fine." The agent grinned. "You worry too much."

"Who needs to worry about Kin, when human cops provide enough peril?" Kenshin murmured. "Sano, gambling is _illegal._"

"And...?" Sano slid a pointed glance at the hilt leaning against Kenshin's shoulder. "Swords are illegal in New York, too. Reversed or not."

"This, I know," Kenshin muttered.

"Come on, Kenshin. Almost everybody in here's a friend of mine. And the ones that aren't-" Sano didn't quite glance across the mat, toward a group of humans and Kin that looked no scruffier than the rest but _felt_ oilier. "Well. They make for some interesting listening, huh?"

That they had. More fragments than anything else, traded with the rest of the gamers as the throws went on; bits of names laying claim to streets, misfortunes with mortal accident or Kin malice. One or two mentions of Virus sightings, usually with the codicil, "And then I got the _hell_ out of there!"

:_Pieces that will make a pattern,_: Battousai said confidently. :_Virus is too organized for there not to be one._:

_How do we know that?_

:_My own-_:

_You've fought them for two years, I know,_ Kenshin nodded slightly. _They're intelligent, yes. They - it?- make plans. But as far as patterns go... every few years, we get a wave of people looking for_ Japonisme _in_ Wonderful Things. _Is that a pattern? An effect of the fact that we usually stock items in Oriental styles? Or just a rabid_ meme, _spreading like wildfire for a time, to burn out and lurk in other minds before it re-infects popular culture?_

A mental blink. :_...You can be very strange, my own._:

"You're worrying again," Sano sing-songed.

Kenshin gave him a shrug. "It's just - two years, and no one's ever heard anything about anyone or anything working _with_ Virus. Yet we know something was there."

"Yeah, yeah; it'll all make sense one of these days." Sano flung an arm around his neck, squeezed him tight. "Come on! Next, next! Is this one odds? Evens?"

Kenshin glanced at the rattling cup, seeing how the dice danced against its confines, shimmering into a flow of paths and probabilities that split, and merged, and split again-

And solidified, in one clear track of trajectories, as the cup slammed down. A faint smile touched the redhead's face. "Snake eyes. Evens."

The cup lifted, and there was a chorus of cheers and groans as money changed hands. Sano rubbed his hands and collected his winnings, pushing some of the bills aside for the next bet. _At least one of us is having fun,_ Kenshin thought wryly.

_"Stop there!"_

Kenshin glanced at the fire exit Battousai remembered as leading through a discrete back corridor into a dank but serviceable alley, wondering if he'd actually heard something, or if his imagination was playing tricks. Easy enough for that to be the case, after the last few days...

:_It's not._:

He left only part of his attention on the game, reaching out with all his senses. There... a thrill of the hunt. An anticipation of blood.

And trapped between them, a quiet, clouded sense of fear.

_"Sorry, chickie - but did you really think you could get away alone?" _

_"You won't cause any more trouble!"_

"Snake eyes again," Kenshin murmured, listening to the alley door thump, a desperate breath with a brace of hunters panting on its heels. If what Battousai recalled was accurate, the restaurant's bouncer should have been notified the moment the back door opened. There was no reason to get involved. Yet. "Sano..."

"I know, I know - go easy on 'em," Sano smirked, raking in another pile. "Hey, guys! Where's Yoita tonight? He won half a grand off me last time; doesn't seem right not to return the favor."

Awkward silence rippled through the room. "...Yeah, you probably didn't hear," a thin brunet Crowley admitted, ducking his head. "Grinder found him about the time Katsu was throwing your wake."

"Found?" Sano pounced.

The brunet moved a hand across his face, as if drawing lines. "Spider's Web."

For a moment, ghostly black lines seemed to crawl across the Crowley's skin, as Battousai drew on his own memories of the vicious drug's overdoses. :_An opium derivative. Root or Sorcery, we're not certain, but some form of magic makes it not only twice as potent, but impossible to identify as a drug by conventional chemical tests. Even if a dealer is caught with it, the cops can't prove he's carrying anything more deadly than brown sugar,_: the sword-spirit recalled grimly. :_The Beijings run it through Chinatown. Target Alpha and the NYPD have both done what they can, but the gang has never given up a source. Our best guess is that somehow Bleacher Bob, the Ubo in charge of the gang, has some connection with magic we can't find, but..._:

_What is it? _

:_The ki signature of Spider's Web._:Frustration. :_When I think of it now... it reminds me of something._:

Kenshin blinked, thinking of the quirks of steel's memory, even as he heard an odd thump that sounded queasily like Shuei-ya's bouncer running into more than he could handle. _You mean - like something_ I've _seen?_

"Yoita." Sano's fists clenched over the mat. "You _idiot._ Why would you get mixed up with that...?"

The room doors clattered open.

_Desperation. Fear. The hopeless fury of a fox at the cliff edge, turning to face the hounds._

Kenshin fought free of that blaze across his ki sense, focusing on the panting physical body that contained it. Tall, sweating; long dark hair washed with a green cast that, together with tall ebony boots and horror-movie classic leather mad doctor's outfit, gave whole new levels of elegance to the Goth scene. Numb brown eyes scanned the room, seeing without _seeing_ any more than that there was no other exit.

"Wouldn't mind playing doctor with _her_..." came a whistle through the crowd.

A flash of anger lit dark eyes; even as the woman fought to catch her breath, her shoulders straightened, her world sliding back into focus. She scanned the room again-

And darted for him like a guided missile, boots scattering cash over the mat as she wrapped arms around Kenshin in a desperate hug. "Please help me!"

"Oro?"

:_This is... definitely not what usually happens..._:

"Megumi, you witch!"

A pair of muscle, one a bit bulkier than the other. Denim and silk-patched leather; no tattoos in plain view, but a hard emptiness in the eyes that spoke clearer of murder than any inked teardrops ever would. None of which were as important as the metal lumps of guns in their belts... and the white-edged knives in their hands.

:_Coated with dried brine,_: Battousai noted grimly. :_They came hunting magic._:

_Beijings,_ Kenshin knew, seeing the healed scars where the two's left little fingers should have been.

The bearded gang member smirked, eyes running over Megumi's form in obvious threat. "There's nowhere else for you to run!"

_And they mean trouble. _

"One thing after another." Sano's eyes narrowed over a snarl that would have done a werewolf proud. "Who _are_ you punks?"

_...And there goes any chance of a peaceful walk through Chinatown,_ Kenshin thought wryly.

"Back off, loudmouth!" The beard charged. "Hand over the girl, or else-"

Blood flew. The salt-touched knife spiraled through smoky air, to stick quivering in the far wall.

Sano stood over the unconscious gang member, shaking out his fist. Turned a fiery glare on the one still standing. "Better watch your own mouth," he ground out. "I'm not in the mood."

:_Be ready._: Scales whispered near Kenshin's soul, drawing them both near that place of calm where all that existed was the target and steel's dance. :_He's unlikely to draw the gun; not with so many Kin here, not with the police likely already summoned by the bouncer's fall. But be ready._:

"Y-you think you'll get away with this?" The gangster's knife shook, but he flashed his left hand in sickly defiance. "She's Kanryuu's woman! And you know who we are!"

Sano's fist came down like a hammer. "I told you to watch it, _teme!_"

"The Beijings..." some of the gamers muttered to each other. "This is bad..."

"Kanryuu Takeda?" Kenshin stood, using Battousai's calm to ignore the unconscious gang members on the floor when most of him wanted desperately to be elsewhere. Something felt off about the room - a gust of wind, a ruffle in ki, he wasn't sure - but he didn't dare take his eyes off the woman. Not now. Her ki _was_ a Witch's, if drained and trembling; and spells she might not have flung at her salt-bearing pursuers, she might well risk casting on Sano. "Who _is_ this man?"

Megumi glanced aside, a drop of sweat shivering down her cheek.

"And since when do the Beijings do snatch-and-grabs for a human?" Sano cast a measuring look Megumi's way. "You one of their high-class hookers, keeping him sweet?"

"How dare you!" Spots of color rose in pale cheeks; she crossed her arms with a whisper of leather and an outraged _hmph_. "They've nothing to do with me. I don't even _know_ this Kanryuu!"

"How prettily you lie, Megumi Takani..."

Fear shivered through her ki. Kenshin glanced toward its source; a grinning little man in loose black and gray, sitting cross-legged in the corner, cat-eyes glowing lambent yellow under a widow's peak of spiked black hair.

:_Rakshasa._:

Kenshin nodded slightly, eyes flicking up toward that gentle puff of breeze he'd felt earlier. _Loose ceiling tile. So that's how he got in._ Absently, he noticed there was beginning to be a panicked rush for the door.

:_Good. Less innocent bystanders._:

I'm _an innocent bystander, that I am!_

A Cheshire cat's grin in his mind. :_Really?_:

"Only two guards, you thought," the cat-eyed vampire smirked. "But by those who serve the _Okashira,_ you are _always_ watched. Be it the street, the bed, the bath... nowhere escapes us."

_Being a little obvious, isn't he?_ Kenshin thought.

:_There aren't that many here who speak Japanese._:

_What?_

"Tch." Megumi combed back her hair, proud as a queen. "I tell you I'm no prostitute."

English, Kenshin realized, shocked like cold water. The rhythm was _different._

And then it changed again, as Megumi slipped back into the Rakshasa's tongue. "Go back and tell Kanryuu!" She jabbed a finger toward her enemy, defiant. "I will _keep_ running from him!"

"Such a cute little morsel." The Rakshasa cracked his knuckles, claws gleaming black with venom. "How did you ever get the idea you _could_ run?"

Battousai's attention sharpened, sensing the odd flux of ki around the Rakshasa's hand. :_What is he-_:

Claws slashed down twice, black flung out in two tight bundles of energy. They skimmed Megumi's hair to either side, parting green-black strands-

Struck home in gamblers behind her, dropping them in bloody, venom-wracked heaps.

_Oh gods-_

:_Calm!_: Battousai gripped his terror tight, even as Sano yelled out to _Tomo_ and _Ginji,_ yelled again for a _first aid kit, damn it, now!_ :_Calm, and think!_:

"Spiral darts." More black beaded on the Rakshasa's claws. "Your legs are next. It _won't_ be enough to kill."

The claws slashed down-

And Kenshin was already moving, darting in front of the frozen witch, slamming a hand down on the one item in the room meant to block every Edge ever known.

_The gaming mat._

Green cloth rippled up, shedding cash and dice in one rattling rush, far edge snapping like a whip as venom smacked into bane-laced fabric.

_Sizzle..._

"What's going on between you isn't clear," Kenshin stated, eyes fixed on the Rakshasa as venom-eaten green flopped back to the floor. "But I won't let you hurt innocent people."

Cat eyes flinched back, but covered it with a sneer. "Ha! Think you'll stop me with one lucky-"

Sano growled. "You think you can throw _poison_ at my friends and get away with it?"

For a moment, the Kin's attention was split between Kenshin and a charging, bare-fisted agent-

The next, he was cross-eyed and drooling, out cold on the floor.

:_Sano makes such a great distraction, doesn't he?_:

_Yes,_ Kenshin admitted, trying not to flinch from the not-quite-pain in his wrist as he lowered his sword. He'd practiced the hilt-strike, but this was the first time he'd ever used it without thinking. It felt odd; the sudden knowledge of how the blow felt in his own flesh and bone snapping into all Battousai's memories of the strike like the puzzle piece that turned a blur of colors into a dragon's wing.

No time to explore the oddness. Not with that horrified buzz behind him, as the gamblers added up the unconscious Beijings with the Rakshasa and came to rather obvious conclusions about their chances of survival if they hung around. In moments, even the venom-struck victims were gone, hauled out by some of the waitresses and a very bruised bouncer.

_Who will be back in minutes, to move the refuse outside before they wake,_ Kenshin thought coolly. _We need answers, and we need them now._

"Mmm..." Megumi studied them from under dark bangs, fear melting into quick calculation. "Say... you boys wouldn't mind helping a girl get away from Kanryuu?" Her smile was elegant, seductive. "I'll make it worth your while."

"Forget that," Sano said crossly. "Explain this!"

"Hmph." Her chin lifted, long lashes fluttering.

"Don't even start!" Sano snatched her wrist, ready to implement a come-along hold. "Two of my friends are hurt! You think I'm going to walk into whatever mess you've landed in blind?"

"You're hurting me!" Megumi twisted free, the snap closing her leather cuff pinging open-

White paper packets fluttered free.

:_I'd thought I was only sensing traces on the Beijings..._:

Numb inside, Kenshin plucked a triangular packet from the ground, unfolding thick paper just enough to see the silky brown crystals within. This close, it was a sickly twist in his ki sense; whispering of intoxication, corruption, unstoppable harm.

The redhead turned toward Megumi, sensing the shock of recognition crash through Sano's ki. "And how will you make it worth our while?" _That can't be me. I can't be this calm. Not with death in my hands..._ "With Spider's Web?"

---------

Translations and info:

_Anou_ - Um.

_Baka_ - idiot.

_Bane_ - a substance some Kin are particularly vulnerable to; for example, silver to werewolves.

_Beijings_ - a mixed Chinese and Japanese gang, led by Ubos.

_Iaido_ - martial art of sword-drawing.

_Itachi-jou_ - "Miss Weasel".

_Meme _- a particular unit of thought, idea. Some sociologists speculate that human populations spread culture in "memes" in patterns similar to how genes spread through most other species.

_Obi_ - belt, sash.

_Okashira_ - "the head", boss.

_Oro_ - doesn't really mean anything; though some think it's a back-country version of _ara,_ "Oh!"

_Root Magic_ - bringing out the "inner magic" of herbs, crystals, and other natural objects.

_Seiza_ - traditional Japanese way of sitting on tatami (straw mats). Kneeling and seated, hands resting on top of thighs.

_Shihandai_ - Assistant instructor. (Kendo).

_Sorcerer_ - Kin, male or female, who used to be a human magic-user but "slipped over the edge" at some point, gaining the inhuman characteristics of Kin longevity, inability to die permanently save by a meteoric object, hunger for life-force, and the ability to Drain it.

_Souryuusen_ - "Double dragon strike".

_Teme_ - "you bastard".

_Toxxixx_ - Kin, spirits of toxic waste.

_Wildeyes_ - Kin whose eyes can take flight from their body and drain life-force.

_Witch_ - human, male or female, who can cast spells but specializes in Root Magic.

_Wyght_ - Kin that look very much like a desiccated corpse, with stark white hair.


	4. Chapter 4

Strictly speaking, the Okashira thought dispassionately, of all the precious liquid on the face of the world, only running water was perilous to vampire-kind. A bathtub, a swimming pool, a koi pond - none were any more harmful than this glimmering pool in his palm, waiting to escape his fingers.

But dripped into a bloodied nose, it _would_ sting.

Beshimi sputtered back to consciousness, cat-yellow gaze sweeping the debris-strewn alley he was slumped in, touching the dumpster he'd been hauled out of, then focusing on the tall white trenchcoat and calm face above him with a gulp.

The Okashira gave it half a heartbeat more, then inclined his head. "Report."

The Rakshasa's mouth worked soundlessly a moment.

The Okashira lifted a brow.

"She's gone!"

"Yes." As had been made obvious by the presence of the two still-dazed underlings still in the dumpster. Though if his plans still held, she hadn't gone far.

"There was a gambler," Beshimi began, scrambling to his knees. "A Herd... a human," he amended at a slight narrowing of his superior's green eyes. "Tough, even for Shuei-ya's dice crowd. And - there was a Kin with him. A red-haired swordsman, with claws, and a cross-shaped scar on his cheek..."

The Okashira listened, dispassionately taking in word after word and adding them to the evidence left inside Shuei-ya. His left thumb rubbed on platinum, absently turning his ring to flash blue-violet in the street light.

A Kin and a human, working together. Not common... but not rare, here in New York.

The human was no cause for concern. Oh, he was probably dangerous; no Herd would work so closely with a Kin were he not. But a human, nonetheless. The Okashira's Kin _onmitsu_ could handle the man, easily.

The Kin was another matter. "Claws?"

"He had them from the moment I saw them, and never used them," Beshimi nodded violently, flexing his own claws. "Other Kin, Ubos like yourself, Okashira - your claws always look new. Fresh-made, to slash the foe. His - he's kept them neat and sharp, but they don't have that newness."

Implying the claws _were_ permanent, not manifestations of an Edge. Almost unheard-of among Kin. "But not a Rakshasa."

"I _swear_-"

The Okashira looked at him.

Beshimi shut his mouth.

Turning on his heel, the trenchcoated Kin swept out into the main street, stalking down the sidewalk. Behind him he heard Beshimi dash to keep up, grumbling something about cabs and getting back.

_No,_ the Okashira thought logically, twisting iolite-set platinum on his finger. _Kanryuu's perimeter is secure. Measures to reclaim Takani are in place. There is no pressing need for us to be elsewhere. For... me to be elsewhere._

For these few minutes, he could be himself.

Aoshi Shinomori breathed in night air, stepping slightly aside from a tipsy stockbroker in the endless dance of New York's pedestrian traffic, halfway expecting the ring's enchantment to clamp down again. Not that he could tell when it was; that was the true hell of it. For this moment, he was himself. But any breath, the ring's enchantment could decide he wasn't serving Kanryuu's interests-

And he would be the Okashira again. Cool. Emotionless. Untouched by the sheer horror of the man he was bound to serve.

Another twist of that damn ring; an almost unconscious act by this time, to fool Beshimi and the others he'd been bound to lead into thinking the Okashira still held sway. Over these past five years, Kanryuu's Kin bodyguards had only met Aoshi for a few, fleeting moments, and neither side had enjoyed the experience. The Kin onmitsu wanted a strong leader; and while they might have been kind enough to teach a just-turned Ubo what it was to be Kin, they'd had little patience with a young man horrified by his first human kill.

It hadn't been his last.

_Don't think about it!_ Aoshi thought fiercely. _No knowing how much time you have... think about what binds you. While you still can._

Platinum for permanence, binding the spell. Iolite to find and polarize, dissociating any fear and hatred he felt for Kanryuu to create the cool, ruthlessly efficient Okashira. A built-in pocket behind the stone's setting, like an assassin's poison ring; only instead of venom, it held enchanted powders, binding together the rest of the spell. Subtle work, Kanryuu's less-than-subtle gloating, and his own access to the businessman's files had determined what else that should be: prehnite, jet, lodestone, amethyst, epidote, sardonyx, and spinel. Binding the wearer to a contract he couldn't break, and a ring he couldn't take off.

Together, the enchanted components gave Kanryuu precisely what he wanted. The head of his security was not brainwashed; far from it. The Okashira was perfectly in his right mind.

Yet the part of that right mind that was _Aoshi_ spent this endless nightmare locked in a closet, only surfacing to taste a few stolen breaths of night.

Sane, every stolen moment. No matter how much he might wish otherwise. The ring preserved Kanryuu's interests; and a madman in charge of security served no one.

_At least this is the only ring. _

He hoped. He'd never run across a mention of any others. And since the _accident_ with Megumi's coven master, those capable of creating such a ring should have taken that knowledge to their graves.

_Besides, you know Kanryuu. He values the Okashira's services too much to let anyone else gain such an advantage._

A slim comfort, but all Aoshi had. If his extended family were targeted by Kanryuu again, at least the businessman wouldn't have that to bind them.

_How did they know? How did they find us? How did -_ why _did-_

His breath hitched, remembering that endless moment before the Ubo's fangs had come down.

_I will kill him. _

And how much of that was himself, and how much the Okashira, Aoshi could no longer determine. Aoshi remembered Bleacher Bob's red-dripping fangs, and shivered with rage; knew how easily the Ubo could have picked one of the others of his clan to _gift_ to Kanryuu, and seethed with hate. The Okashira...

_Ninja live only to die; in the service of the lord, or of the clan. That is the old way. That is our honor. _

_And he shattered it._

Yes. One night he would have his sire's life.

But not tonight.

The Okashira glanced back at his subordinate, calmly ignoring the crunch as Beshimi straightened his broken nose. "Humans are more likely to be on record. Find this gambler."

"_H-hai,_ Okashira."

_We will find why you ran to them, Takani,_ the onmitsu leader thought coolly. _We will find who you ran to. What resources they have. What allies they can call on. _

_And then we will close that escape._

_Forever._

---------

"'Night, Kaoru-_nee-san_," Ayame murmured drowsily. Her littler sister Suzume only gave a wordless yawn, and nestled under the sheets as her grandfather stepped back and turned out the bedroom light.

Closing the door behind them, Dr. Gensai let out a relieved breath. "Thank goodness. I thought I'd _never_ get them to sleep tonight."

"They were pretty wild," Kaoru laughed softly. _Maybe because they were worried? No; they've only known Kenshin a little while. But I'm worried. They probably picked up on that._

_It's just - they're out so late..._

Gensai shook his head as they walked back toward the front of the apartment, evidently picturing the three- and two-year-old bundles of energy it had taken all three of them to corral. "Amazing how easy Kenshin makes it look, hmm?"

"You mean weird," Yahiko grumbled. "Why's he want to play with kids anyway?"

Kaoru shot him a fiery glance. "Yahiko-!"

"We all have our own ways of staying human, young man," the elderly Sorcerer stated. "My clinic helps me, as your brother's store likely helps him. But superficial interactions with other people only stave off the darkness. To truly keep it in check, we need people to care about. And care for." He regarded the teen with a sober gaze. "Fail in that, and a Kin truly will become the nightmare humans see us as; a twisted predator that once was a man, feeding on those who were its own flesh and blood, searching only for its next meal."

"But - but Kenshin wouldn't-" Yahiko stammered.

"Because he knows the danger." Gensai inclined his head. "I admit, I had my doubts of Battousai. The rumors on the street... well. But your brother seems to have him well in hand. And now that I think on it, all those I'd trust to pass on the truth have never said that sword killed without cause."

_But it still kills._ Kaoru said her goodnights, flicking a warning glance at Yahiko as he tried to skip out without manners. Politeness was just as much a part of the dojo as sword-skill. If he wanted to learn the one, he'd darn well better learn the other.

"They're out pretty late," Kaoru murmured as they stepped into the hall, glancing toward the pair of doors that marked Kenshin's apartment and her own.

"Gambling!" Yahiko shook his head. "Bet you Sano loses it all and Kenshin drags him back in his underwear!"

"Ugh." Kaoru wrinkled her nose at the image of a near-naked Sanosuke; then fought back a blush as her traitor mind presented her with a skimpily-dressed redhead. "So... why just Sano?"

"You kidding me? Big brother wouldn't bet on the sun coming up. Not after that psycho-" He shut his mouth.

Kaoru's eyebrows bounced up, recognizing that near-snap of teeth together. Whatever it was that had put Kenshin off gambling for life, it had to do with Kenshin's ex-girlfriend. The one with the family Yahiko called psycho bastards. _One of these days I've got to - well, Sano says alcohol doesn't work that well on Kin, and stronger drugs just kill. But maybe I could get him flying high on sugar and caffeine and ask. Preferably somewhere he can throw things at the wall, and I can duck._

"Might as well haul out the air mattress now," Yahiko grumbled, unlocking his front door.

Kaoru frowned. "I thought Sano was staying with Katsu?" Kenshin had taken Sano in for the first few nights, but Katsuhiro Tsukioka had offered his foster brother a place to crash while Sanosuke looked for a new apartment, and Sano had taken the Crowley printer up on it.

Yahiko stepped inside, shrugging. "Yeah, well - seems Katsu has this funny idea that people ought to come in at regular hours..."

"We're home."

"Kenshin!" Just inside the doorway, Kaoru turned, grinning. "Welcome ba-"

Tall. Elegant, green-tinted black hair. A leather doctor's outfit that would have blended right in at the _Rocky Horror Picture Show_.

And she stood between Kenshin and Sano like a cat decked with canary feathers.

"We're sorry we're late," Kenshin said cheerfully.

"What a _quaint_ little place," the dark-haired woman said dryly. "Friendly to Crowleys, you said?"

"Uh..." Kaoru gave the redhead a stunned look. _Explain! Now!_

"Um." Kenshin scratched his head nervously. "This is Megumi Takani. There was... an incident, with the gambling..."

Sano muffled him with one hand. "Sorry, Jou-chan. She's a material witness who might give us a few leads in a case. She'll be staying a while."

"Witness to what?" Kaoru said faintly.

Sano sighed. "Okay, okay; you got me." He shrugged. "One of the guys wouldn't pay up, so we took _her_ instead."

_"What?"_

"Heard that could happen in Chinatown, but whoa!" Yahiko snickered. "Way to go, Sano!"

_Thwack! Thwack!_

"Ow!"

"Hey!" Harder of head, Sano's eyes barely crossed. "Look, it's about face - the guy _has_ to clear it, or nobody's going to let him live it down-"

_Thwack! _

"Oough..."

"Um... sorry about that," Kaoru said sheepishly, lowering her bokken as the agent reeled. "Miss... Takani, was it? I'll have a talk with this idiot. You can go home."

"Oh, but I have no intention of going anywhere." Standing behind Kenshin, Megumi smiled like shadows and secrets, resting a dark-nailed hand on his shoulder as her fingers traced down his unscarred cheek. "I couldn't leave such a sweet young thing... not for a moment."

Kenshin froze.

Kaoru saw red. "Get your hands off him!"

"Oh? Why should I?" Megumi folded her hands, the very picture of innocence, even as Kenshin shook off shock to scoot out of arm's reach. "No scarf, no high collar - you couldn't possibly be his lover. What right have you to say who touches him?"

"Give the girl a break, lady," Sano grumbled, picking himself off the wall. "A month ago she didn't even know about garlic mace. Teeth are a lot to get used to."

_"Get out!" _

Panting, Kaoru leaned against the inside of the locked door, silently cursing men in general and one rooster-headed idiot in particular. To say that- to hint that-

_We've had dinner a couple times, all right? And coffee. And breakfast. But I still don't know if... and I don't know if_ he _knows, and..._

It hadn't been too bad, letting Kenshin drink her blood. But he hadn't used the knife. And he'd said she could say no. Even though he _needed_ it.

And the fact that both Sano and this Takani seemed to think Kenshin _would_ bite someone he was - having a relationship with-

And - she'd just thrown Kenshin out of his own apartment.

_Why does the floor never open up and swallow you when you want it to?_

---------

Sano dusted himself off, picking up a still-stunned Yahiko. "Sheesh!"

"Indeed," Kenshin murmured, still measuring distances to make sure he was out of range of those deadly fingernails. _I will not blush. I will not... I wouldn't_ do _that to Kaoru!_

:_Not against her will, no,_: Battousai said firmly.

_Biting her? How could that ever be_ with _her will?_ Humans didn't do that to each other; didn't inflict pain, and call it love-

:_You'd be surprised what humans will do,_: the blade said dryly. :_But you are_ not human, _my own. You are Kin. You_ need _blood - and that which is given freely is most nourishing of all._:

_You don't think of someone you - care about - as food!_

:_Have you never cherished an apple tree?_:

"This is all your fault, you - you tramp!" Yahiko glared at Megumi. "Saying stuff like that to Kaoru, when my brother would never let you-"

"Your brother?" Megumi blinked, looking between dark and red hair; then smiled, like a fox outside a henhouse. "Oh, but I don't want to leave him. He's strong, and he has a generous heart. If I stay near him, he'll protect me - even from Kanryuu's men." Dark eyes gleamed. "Kenshin, is it? I've always wanted a handsome bodyguard."

Watching the witch's finger trace a suggestive line near her lips, Kenshin's eyes bugged. He could feel hairs rising on the back of his neck in a way that had nothing to do with hostile ki, and everything to do with pure, unadulterated panic. _Help?_

:_...What am_ I _supposed to do? No one's ever - even in the teahouses, the geisha and meiko were usually too frightened of me to - eep!_:

No help there. Kenshin swallowed, thinking firmly of snow; cool, silent flakes of white, dimming even New York to a whisper. "You could at least tell us your story, that you could."

"Oh, it's _so_ boring..."

"Nobody goes looking for a bodyguard 'cause they're bored," Sano stated, fishing in his sleeve for a folded color printout. "Just who and what are you? Why are you running from Kanryuu? Why's he so determined to catch you? Why do bits of you look like bits of _this?_"

With a shock, Kenshin recognized a snapshot of the odd gem-laced Root Magic below Zip Electronics.

:_So..._: Embarrassed dismay turned to cold calculation. :_Her ki was too faded for the link to be obvious to us... but Sano's reading of auras is true. She is linked to it._:

"Where's the rest of your coven, lady?" Sano bit out, brandishing a packet of Spider's Web along with the printout. "And how did you get hold of _this?_"

"Kenshin?" Yahiko looked at folded paper, obviously sensing Sano's hatred of the packet. "What's-?"

"A drug," Kenshin answered in an undertone. "Lethal. Even to Kin." Especially to Kin. Alcohol might be tolerated, with difficulty, but the lingering charge of dreams and nightmares humans had invested opiates and their kind with were deadly to a Kin's very essence. A Kin crazy or suicidal enough to play with drugs might die, or melt, or even explode.

Megumi _hmph_ed. "It's rude to speak of a lady's past."

"Like you're a lady? Listen, you-"

"Easy, easy..." Kenshin raised a soothing hand. "If you won't speak of yourself, tell us of Kanryuu. To have so much power over the Beijings... he must be the leader of those who actually create the drug."

Brown eyes shifted away.

_Why? _

Sano's phone rang. He gave Megumi another dark look, then tucked papers in his jacket pocket and fished out his cell. "Sagara. Hey, Shuu... whoa, slow down - Gin and the others okay?" Sano's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, thanks for the tip." He hung up. "Come on!"

---------

"You guys take me to the greatest places," Yahiko muttered, staring down at the mass of lights and uniforms gathered at the edge of the night-black East River. He shifted from foot to foot, somehow chilly despite the crowd watching with them. "Teacher's never going to believe _this_ 'How I spent my summer vacation'."

"Yahiko." Kenshin's hand touched his shoulder. "You shouldn't be here."

"Why the heck not?" Yahiko glared up at his brother, angry at the worry in violet eyes. "_You're_ looking!"

"I am." Kenshin's gaze never wavered. "But I am... not unprepared. The nightmares I claim, I would not have for you."

_Kenshin remembers what Battousai remembers. And Battousai's a killer._ Yahiko swallowed dryly. But he squared his shoulders, and looked back at the mass of police and crime scene analysts. "I'm staying! I- I-yi-yi..."

"Not pretty, is it?" Sano tucked his hands in his pockets, fixed on that glimpse of water trickling from dead mouths, eyes rolled back in skulls 'til only the bloodshot whites showed. "Rakshasa venom. Kanryuu's own guys... cold."

"Failures are disposed of." Sweat trickled down Megumi's hairline, smearing a hint of blush. "It's Kanryuu's way."

Yahiko tried not to shiver, inexpressibly glad when black bags zipped over sightless eyes. _Kenshin's so quiet. He said Battousai would - but how can anybody be ready for this?_

"What do you see?" Sano said softly.

Startled, Yahiko followed his brother's gaze to another part of the rubbernecking crowd. Just as noisy and brash as the New Yorkers and tourists gathered around them... except for one knot of stillness.

A sneering gray suit with rectangular glasses. A sweating short guy with cat-eyes and a bandaged nose. And a tall, dark-haired man in a white trenchcoat over a deep indigo leather and cloth outfit that oddly reminded Yahiko of Misao's. Except it was a lot subtler. And didn't have a skirt.

_That's the one. That's the guy Kenshin's worried about._

"Damn! That little-" Sano's fists clenched, as cat-eyes saw them and flared wide with rage. "If he throws that poison here-"

"He won't." Kenshin's voice was chill. Controlled, even as the Rakshasa's claws lifted and glimmered. "Not in a crowd."

And the trenchcoat spoke one unheard word, and the Rakshasa froze.

"Can you hear 'em from here?" Sano asked in a low tone, even as Megumi glanced at his brother in shock.

"No." Kenshin's voice was his own again, with no trace of Battousai. "The crowd's too unruly. But I doubt they can hear us, either."

Still startled, Megumi looked where they were looking - and froze. "Kanryuu..."

"She's right." Sano's tone was curt, angry. "Glasses is definitely Kanryuu Takeda."

"But the one behind the Rakshasa?" Kenshin wondered.

"Vampire-pale, white coat..." Sano shrugged. "Ubo, probably. Head of the Beijings' little division for the bastard?"

"No!" Fear and fury mingled, bringing a flush of red to Megumi's pale face. "He's... the Okashira!"

---------

"Megumi-san. My little hen who lays the golden egg." Gloved hand caressing his cheek, Kanryuu smirked. "I do believe I'm losing patience with her."

"Loss of patience cost you her mentor," the Okashira said coolly.

"True; so true," Kanryuu chuckled. "I'm lucky I have you to look over my interests, aren't I, Aoshi-san? Otherwise, I might become... over-exuberant. Again." He tapped up his glasses. "And then she really would escape us. So to speak."

_An escape I cannot even claim myself,_ the Ubo thought bleakly. _Megumi-san. I'm... sorry._

"The crowd means nothing," Beshimi grumbled. "We could take her!"

"No." The Okashira sought violet once more, searching for that sudden flash of inhuman gold. "That is no average man, Beshimi. You would not be able to handle him alone."

Beshimi sneered. "He was lucky-"

The Ubo's face was still, even as he remembered that sudden, _weighing_ look from eyes no longer violet. A look that had echoed the best of his clan's teachers; _what are you capable of?_ "He was not."

"Of course the man's not average. He's Kin." The words were casual, but Kanryuu's glance held razor interest.

"Of no kind we know." _And if Megumi is here with them, then..._ "Han'nya."

"Yes." The Animate's voice came from everywhere and nowhere; he could have been any shadow in the crowd. Or none of them.

The Okashira inclined his head slightly. "You tracked them to their base?"

"The redhead has sharp senses. Following him was a challenge." A moment's silence. "To change events near him draws... attention."

_Elemental attention?_ Against his will, the Okashira felt his interest sparked. What made Han'nya such a skilled spy was not only his wizardry with disguises, but his skill at the rare Edge of Event Manipulation; a Kin's supernatural power to change the fabric of the world at will. Should Han'nya slip in a climb across impassible rooftops, should he be caught by one unaccountably-alert guard - he could _change_ the event, smoothing away the impediment to his mission. A risky power, and not one to be used lightly. Still, it normally only drew City Elementals' outrage if several people were affected.

_Or... if one of their own kind is threatened._

_An Elemental? Is it possible? _

Wall Street's Elemental manifested in the form of a woman in a smart pinstriped suit. Chinatown, as a concrete dragon. Liberty Island itself as - well, what else? It wasn't impossible that the number of Japanese immigrants to New York might have created a Tokugawa swordsman.

Not impossible. Yet there was something about the presence of that rooster-haired human in the redhead's company that reminded him of something else, some other report... the Ubo frowned, matching piece upon piece of intelligence. "Smythe claimed he encountered a Rakshasa." _Idiot. Trying to interfere with Black Solstice when Kanryuu is not yet prepared to crush them?_ Smythe's body was safely hidden, a knife through his heart to kill him every sunset to come, until Kanryuu either relented or ended the torment with a meteoric blade. Lone actions spurred by pride had no place in Kanryuu's organization.

"The description matches." A wry humor touched Han'nya's tone. "Even if the Sorcerer had met Beshimi, I doubt he would realize his mistake."

"Claws, but not Rakshasa?" Kanryuu scowled. "Your people will _handle_ him, Aoshi. Whatever he is." His voice lightened, teasing. "We need to show our dear Megumi how much we've missed her."

"You should move out of sight," the Okashira said levelly.

"Oh, should I?" Glasses glimmered over a smile. "And why would that be?"

The Ubo inclined his head toward a tall, dark-haired man in a gray trenchcoat and a small blonde in sensible suit and low heels ducking under the crime scene tape to head toward Megumi's protectors. Familiar humans; if more from report than contact, in the Okashira's case.

"My, my; Detectives Goren and Eames." Kanryuu laughed softly. "New York's finest must be truly frustrated to call out the Major Case Squad for _this._" Dark eyes glittered coldly at green. "And they're going to stay frustrated, aren't they?"

"There is nothing for them to find." Damn the ring and his own training.

Kanryuu _tch_ed. "So why do you still look upset?"

The Okashira watched the subtle play of emotions over the swordsman's face as the detectives approached; surprise, recognition - concern? All swiftly hidden, under a polite mask of resignation. "They've met before." _And he's worried. Worried that they might get too close. That they might find us - and we would have to... take steps._

As he would. That was his contract.

The corner of Kanryuu's mouth turned up. "Which should make it all the easier to find out who and what he really is, shouldn't it?"

True. "Han'nya. Inform Hyottoko. The two of you will help Beshimi recapture Takani."

"Yes, Okashira." A waft of wind, and even his shadow was gone.

"Two helpers, Beshimi." The Ubo's eyes narrowed, green gaining the silvery glint of a predator. "No more failures."

"I will t-take that to heart." Shivering, the Rakshasa vanished.

"Hmm." Kanryuu regarded the detectives' angry body language as they confronted Megumi's little group. "Second chances. How generous."

He would not twitch, the Okashira thought. He would not.

"I'm too much of a businessman, I suppose," Kanryuu sighed. "Nothing's finished until the trash is disposed of." Streetlights glinted off lenses as he watched the ambulances pull away, carrying the river's dead. "But once it is... ah, the world feels so fresh and new!"

---------

"You brought your _little brother_ to a crime scene?" Detective Alexandrea Eames growled.

Detective Bobby Goren let his partner take the lead, watching the reactions of this odd little group. Despite Alex's snarl, Yahiko looked reasonably okay, for now; even if that pale gulp meant the teen wasn't going to have much appetite for the foreseeable future. The tall, leather-clad woman with the green tint to her hair was shivering, but trying to hide it. _Connected to the case?_ Bobby wondered. Agent Sagara looked as deliberately unimpressed as ever, no information there. But Himura...

Kenshin was keeping an eye on something _behind_ them. "Who's back there?"

"Kanryuu Takeda."

Bobby's brows lifted, even as Alex's lips pursed in an involuntary, silent whistle. Goren took a subtle step sideways, just enough to catch a glimpse of their arrogant suspect strolling off through the crowd. "Talk about chutzpah," Alex muttered.

True. But Takeda walking away from yet another of his organization's hits on errant members wasn't half as interesting as the implications Himura had just let slip. _You know who Kanryuu is. You know_ we _know who he is._

And Sanosuke hadn't so much as flinched.

_He's not just helping you in an investigation, is he? He's your_ partner.

_Even if he doesn't know it yet._

How on Earth did a _shopkeeper_ get snatched into the DEA?

But this wasn't the time or place to ask; not with an unknown in the equation. "I'm Detective Goren," he smiled at the woman. "This is my partner, Detective Eames. And you are, Miss...?"

She swallowed, but lifted her head, dark eyes flashing. "Takani. Megumi Takani."

Felt like the truth. _So whatever you're scared of, you don't think hiding will do any good._ Goren's lips thinned a little, taking in the defiant desperation of a woman who expected each breath might be her last. Now why would-?

Steel-blue caught his gaze, shifted a subtle glance toward the departing ambulances. Drew the detective's attention back to their protective knot once more, with a bare flicker toward Sano's concealed semi-automatic.

Goren drew in a quiet breath, watching Himura's changeable eyes until they faded back to pleading violet. "Well, we already have their numbers, right Alex? If we think of something, I'm sure we can call..."

Alex's swift glance might as well have trumpeted disbelief at high noon, but she crossed her arms and gave them a scowl as if it was what she'd meant to do all along. "Get that kid off the streets, or I'm calling DCS!"

"I'm not a _kid-!_"

Sano latched onto the protesting teen, half-dragging him away as Megumi and Himura fell in behind him. "Come on, brat..."

"Well, well," Alex muttered as the foursome walked away, watching the careful spacing, the way Sagara and Himura between them watched every angle of attack. "Since when did the DEA start picking up random New Yorkers for protective detail?"

Goren shrugged. "Maybe since they figured out Kanryuu seems to find defectors before they even get a chance to turn state's evidence?"

Alex nodded once. "She's one of his?"

"She's scared enough."

His partner frowned. "Kid didn't sign up for that kind of trouble, Bobby."

"I don't think Himura has a choice." Goren weighed that _look_ in his mind again. Subtle. Not a flicker more than was needed to get the message across. And not a doubt that it would be understood. "Special Forces."

"Say _what?_"

Right, right; Himura's height, his weight - it was impossible. Bobby had been Army long enough to know. But he nodded anyway, certainty solid as bedrock. "I don't know how. But it's what he _is_."

Alex raised a brow. "Puttering around with antique reproductions."

"A lot of them are really peaceable guys," Bobby shrugged. "Until... well, until they have a target."

Alex took that in, eyes narrowing as she compared that detail with the rest of her mental file on Himura. "He _did_ kill Tani's people."

"Pipe bomb, with his brother in the apartment?" Goren's smile never touched his eyes. "They'd have had to kill him to walk away after that."

"Panic, hell!" Alex's fists clenched. "And Sagara knows."

"Maybe not," Bobby murmured. Caught his partner's angry look, and tried to lay out his chain of thought. "Oh, yeah, about Tani's people - he knows that. But what he's got watching his back... I don't think so. Sagara's law enforcement. Like us. And Himura's - not."

Alex frowned. "Deakins isn't going to like this."

No; the captain definitely wouldn't like knowing they had someone truly lethal in the middle of multiple investigations. But that was the least of their problems. "We don't really need to mention that Takeda was here, do we?"

"He's a suspect. Even if we've got no hard evidence to back us up, and half a dozen political heavy-hitters telling us to ignore him," Alex said flatly. "There's no way we're leaving him out of our report."

"I didn't say modify the report," Bobby amended hastily, waving his hand. "Just... not _mention_ him. To the captain. Who can read the report, if he really wants to know-"

"Bobby."

"Well... hypothetically, if we had reason to believe a certain citizen's life was in danger, we might be obligated to warn him who was coming his way. Being the good, law-abiding citizens that we are," Goren finished.

"And Takeda's in danger because...?" Alex prompted.

"Did I say Takeda?" Bobby blinked innocently. "I could've sworn I didn't say _anything_ about Takeda."

"...Right," Alex said slowly. "But hypothetically, if a certain alleged druglord we can't pin anything on was planning to take out a hit on a witness, and if one of the people guarding that witness has the training to know that..."

"Interesting thing about the trained operatives?" Bobby observed. "They don't really have a problem with doing unto the bad guy _before_ he can do unto you."

Alex gave him a warning look.

"His little brother's right there," Goren said more softly. "Yahiko and Takani are going to be his first priorities. If he can just protect Takani until tBuku and Uramura get their act together and squirrel her into a safehouse, Takeda will never see him again. Just because he _can_ kill - that doesn't mean he likes it."

"But he might," Alex stated.

"Well... anyone _might_ do anything," Bobby shrugged. "And if we mention Himura to Takeda - not that we've got any _reason_ to mention the guy, after all, he's just a shopkeeper..."

"Then he'd know just where to look for Takani." Alex grimaced. "I hate waiting."

"So you love autopsies?" He gave her his best impish grin.

"Beats waiting." She dusted off her hands. "Let's go see if Takeda's people slipped up this time."

---------

Translations and info:

_Geisha_ - "art persons"; trained to be excellent conversationalists, and other arts to make their patrons comfortable. Women of the Pleasure Quarters is a very neat book on the subject.

_Hai_ - yes (formal).

_Meiko_ - Kyoto apprentice geisha.

_-nee-san_ - "Big sister".

_Onmitsu_ - spies, ninja.


	5. Chapter 5

Sano looked at his breakfast companions, glanced over into Jou-chan's living room where Megumi was giving Yahiko a good video-game stomping _Mortal Kombat_-style, and shook his head. "We're going to have to split up."

"Oro?"

"What do you mean _we,_ agent man?"

He didn't even have to look up from his coffee to imagine the matching stubborn determination on those two faces. Kaoru's was steaming with indignation, while Kenshin might hide it better under innocent cluelessness, but they were both about as easy to move as the rock of Gibraltar.

_Perfect pair,_ Sano thought, hiding a grin. _Good thing, too. Considering what I'm going to have to set up with Misao today, given that these two just can't stay out of Agency business..._

_Not to mention, it's so much fun to see 'Sai blush._

Ah, well. Fun later. "Only thing that makes sense," Sano shrugged. "We've got a bunch of ground to cover and one heck of a narrow window to do it in. The people we've got to talk to won't be up 'til near sunset, and if we're still on the streets for too long after Big Mike goes down, we might as well go trolling with "Kanryuu's guys shoot here" signs on our backs." He shifted in his chair, carefully not snickering. "And somebody has to stay with Takani."

Frustration on Kaoru's face; a blink of pure panic on Kenshin's. _Yep, I thought that would get them moving._ "So!" Sano grinned at both of them. "Who takes what?"

---------

"A-_ha!_"

"Eeep!"

"Eeep?" Standing just outside Tae's doorstep, Kaoru loosened her grip on white rayon, and gave her bug-eyed, blood-drinking, creature of the night girlfriend a wry look. "I grab you, and _you_ go 'eep'?"

"Ah... well..." The brunette glanced both ways down the hall of her apartment building, checking the early-evening traffic of residents and visitors for any signs of unusual interest, then gestured Kaoru inside. "It's a long story."

"You, inviting me in?" Kaoru muttered under her breath as she crossed the short entryway to the tiny living room. She shrugged the sword-bag off her shoulder, touching the reassuring weight of oak through cloth. "That's a switch."

"Is that old chestnut still going around?" Locking the door behind them, Tae rolled her eyes. "Vampires don't need an invitation, Kaoru. Demons, yeah - unless somebody's _ordered_ them to go after you. Then it doesn't matter whose threshold you're hiding behind."

"Oh." Kaoru swallowed dryly.

Tae looked her over, shook her head, and padded into the kitchen for glasses of ice water. "Here."

Kaoru took the smooth cylinder and sipped at the chill, ice gliding along her lip before she set it down on the coffee table, shoved aside a calico throw-pillow, and sank into a chair. "Thanks for letting me drop by."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Tae managed a weak smile. "At least now I don't have to make sure the false wall is up if you head for the fridge."

_So I don't see the blood you keep in there,_ Kaoru finished silently. "How - how long have you been...?"

"1898. Paris." Tae shrugged. "My family went to study European fashions, so they could get in good at court. Japan was all about bein' modern, then, and that meant making a good show like the rest of the old royalty. I never did make it back home."

_Oh._ She could feel the hurt as if it'd happened to her; lost in a foreign land, thirsty for blood, trapped away from the daylight forever. _Wait a minute._ Kaoru blinked. "What was an Ubo doing in Paris?"

Tae laughed once, worn and bitter. "I didn't find that out until a lot later... but he was hunting Battousai."

"What?"

Tae waved at her to settle back, setting her own glass down as she perched on the couch across the way. "I wasn't even born when the Revolution ended, but I heard the stories," the Ubo began. "The shadow assassin. Katsura's blade." She swallowed dryly. "The Demon of Kyoto."

"He's not-"

"Just hear me out," Tae cut her off. "This is... a lot of bad memories, all right? An' you saying he's not so bad, when I just-" Tae shook her head.

Kaoru held her hands out, unthreatening. "Please. Tell me."

"Stories said he just vanished after the battle was over," Tae said quietly. "All that killing, all that hate he was supposed to be carrying around for the Shogunate... and he just left after Toba Fushimi. Aizu was still up in arms, last of the Shinsengumi were still holding out - and _he_ just vanished."

"But wasn't the real fighting over by then?" Kaoru ventured after a moment. She'd done some reading up, ever since Sano had told her Battousai had surfaced in the Bakumatsu. "The shogun resigned, right?"

"I guess," Tae shrugged. "Thing was, the _loyal_ revolutionaries were all supposed to fight to the end. But he just walked away. And then nine years later, Saigo Takamori cuts loose and starts fighting the emperor, calling in anybody who had a beef with the new government..."

_Loyal. They thought Battousai wasn't-_ "That's why they sent the ninja," Kaoru whispered.

Tae's head jerked up. "You _know?_"

Kaoru hesitated. _Should I?_ Some of the things Kenshin had told her seemed very private. But Tae was her friend. Even if she hadn't mentioned being a vampire. "He hasn't said much about back then," Kaoru said carefully. "But what he has said - it sounds like he was just trying to live quietly. Until everything fell apart."

"Live _quietly?_ The Demon of Kyoto? You have to be-" Tae cut herself off, fingers clenching on her skirt. "But then, Gan lied about a lot of things."

Imagining her impatience as one long string, Kaoru wadded it up and gripped it tight.

"You have to understand, some of this I got from Gan, my sire, and some of it I figured out later," Tae said at last. "Gan was one of the Kin onmitsu; the spies for the emperor and the new government. But he _wasn't_ one of the guys who first went after Battousai." The Ubo gave her a serious look. "None of that bunch came back alive."

"They attacked his family," Kaoru said softly.

"He had a- oh, _hell._" Tae sat there for a minute, face pale. "Oh, no, _now_ it makes sense..."

_What does?_ Kaoru wanted to shake her. _Patient, I'm going to be patient... just tell me!_

"Gan said the job wasn't done," the Ubo said colorlessly. "That's why he made me. Why he said he did, anyway. His people chased Battousai across Japan, across the oceans - China, Egypt, Morocco, you name it. They finally thought they had him cornered in London, but only Gan walked away from that firestorm." Her hands dropped her skirt, twisted together in her lap. "I don't know exactly when that was; sometime in the early 1880's, maybe. So Gan sent home a 'mission accomplished', and settled down in Paris to be eyes and ears for the empire." She took a deep breath. "And then... just before he made me... he found something that told him he wasn't _finished_ yet."

"Like a wife and children," Kaoru guessed. _Sano said Target Alpha got Battousai as some kind of trade from a British agency, so that's where Kenshin's been trying to look for Battousai's family. But he didn't have a time, or even a general location - the British Empire was a big place, once. I hope this helps._

"I never knew." Tae shrugged. "Before we could pick up and get across the Channel, Gan ran into some Russian werewolves he'd made idiots of in a business deal two or three years back, and that was that." She smiled wanly. "So I picked up everything of his that wasn't nailed down, sold it off, and just - tried to get by. Ended up down in Charleston a while, then here."

Kaoru let out a _whoof._ "Wow."

Tae's shoulders shifted under glittery white rayon. "Could've been worse. I've heard Kin with stories a lot worse."

"So you lived hating Battousai," Kaoru concluded softly.

"I lived _scared to death_ of Battousai," Tae corrected, hands shaking a little as she picked up her own glass for a sip. "I mean, here was the guy who made me a monster, telling me everything that _hadn't_ worked to kill a _worse_ monster. And for all I knew Battousai could tell I was Gan's make, and Gan swore the demon held a grudge until the stars fell down. Then the rumors about Battousai being part of Target Alpha got loose, that he was _their_ assassin, and the guy I thought was a nice little collectible dealer turns out to be _him_..." She shivered.

"He's not that bad," Kaoru insisted. "He saved my life."

Tae waved it off. "Yeah, Virus. Everybody sane hates those things."

"From Kurogasa."

The Ubo snorted. "Target Alpha's been after that guy a long time. Doesn't surprise me a Muramasa blade would grab a new host to get him-"

Kaoru bit her lip. "More like, Kenshin grabbed _him._"

Tae gaped at her, wordless.

"Battousai wanted to go after Kurogasa," Kaoru said quietly. "But he wouldn't. Not if it meant taking someone against their will. He just wouldn't." She spread empty hands. "So you tell me. Is that a monster?"

Tae got up. Walked across the room to the kitchen nook. Leaned on the counter, and stared into space.

_Patient. I'm going to be patient. I'm going to be... chewing through my bag strap if this keeps up!_

"When you called, you said you wanted to know more about my New York relatives?" Tae glanced back. "About Ubo, you mean?"

Kaoru stifled a sigh, letting her change the subject. "It's kind of a long shot," the kendo instructor admitted. "But Kenshin thought it was worth asking. And he saw you were scared of him, so I said _I'd_ ask. If you don't mind." Anything, to get out of smirking range of that vixen Takani. Though Yahiko swore the witch had spent the rest of last night in the teen's bedroom, while Kenshin had locked himself into his own with Yahiko, muttering about Sano _really_ needing to get his own place if he wanted to bring suspects home.

The agent himself, of course, had sacked out on the air mattress in Kenshin's living room, apparently oblivious to the redhead's desperate attempts not to share the same part of the space-time continuum with emerald-black fingernails. Apparently.

From his growls, Yahiko didn't buy it for a minute.

"I don't have much to do with other Ubo," Tae admitted. "Most of those in America trace back to Bleacher Bob. Some of them are okay, but he's..." She shivered.

"Head of the Beijings," Kaoru nodded. "Sounds like a pretty bad guy."

"You _know_ that?" Tae gave her a startled look that swept into numb realization. "Oh, hell. That Sano guy, he knew Battousai... he's Target Alpha!"

"He's okay!" Kaoru defended the feckless agent. "At least, so far he is. Keeps cleaning out Kenshin's fridge looking for snacks, but-" _Great. Just digging myself in deeper._ "He's been helping us out since the mess with Kurogasa. And he says-" she held up a hand to forestall Tae's protest, "-he _says_ he tries to make sure he and Battousai only go after the real bad guys." She hesitated. "He hasn't bothered you, has he?"

"No," Tae admitted. Straightened her shoulders. "And he better not. I may not know many Ubo, but I _do_ know Golgotha."

"Club AfterDark," Kaoru murmured.

"You know him?"

Kaoru shook her head. "Battousai said, if Yahiko or I ever got into real trouble - go to Golgotha, at Club AfterDark."

"He's one of the main Commune Elders," Tae said, a faint smile of relief touching her face. "Oldest vampire in New York; maybe the oldest anywhere. Real good guy, even if he does think Christianity has it over Buddhism."

A Christian vampire. _The world is a very weird place,_ Kaoru thought. "So if you don't know the other Ubo, you probably don't know about the one called Okashira."

"The Oka-" Tae let out a long, trembling whistle. "You don't go for little trouble, do you?"

Trying not to shiver, Kaoru sipped her water.

"I don't know a lot," Tae admitted. "Word is, he's one of Bleacher Bob's make, _direct_ - which doesn't happen too often. But he's Kanryuu Takeda's head of security. Which is weird."

"Why?" Kaoru asked, puzzled.

"Why?" Tae gaped at her a second, then pulled her jaw shut and squinted, gathering her thoughts together. "Okay. You know how Kin are usually made? Kin picks out a human, Drains them, gives them some of their own blood or spit or whatever carries the curse?" She waited for Kaoru's nod, and sighed. "Ubo... Ubo like to take it a lot farther. They get into your dreams, they get into your head... they make you love them. Make you willing to do _anything_ for them. So unless you get really, really lucky-" Tae looked away, into darkness. "Nobody breaks free of that without help. Nobody."

"And Takeda's not dumb," Kaoru said, half to herself, thinking of the details Kenshin had shared over breakfast that morning, now that they knew Takeda would be looking for them. No way would a potentially drug-dealing businessman smart enough to have the cops running rings around each other be dumb enough to leave his security in disloyal hands. _Which means - he broke the Okashira loose from Bleacher Bob? But Sano says vampires have real control issues when it comes to their fledglings. And the Beijings, Bob's gang, are still working with Kanryuu. Why would they be doing that if Kanryuu stole the Okashira?_

_Simple. They wouldn't. _

Something else was going on here. But what?

"Scary-evil, but not dumb," Tae agreed. "Kaoru, you got to get out of this-"

"I can't," Kaoru shook her head. "Kenshin's in this up to his ponytail, and - I just can't."

"Kenshin?" Tae threw up her hands. "Girlfriend, I know you think he's cute, but trust me. Breathing beats _any_ amount of cute guys."

"He's - not just cute," Kaoru protested weakly. "He's nice, and Ayame and Suzume like him, and he dodges me all the way across the dojo..."

"Oh, my." Amusement flickered in brown eyes. "You have it bad."

Kaoru growled under her breath. "He just - that _witch_ Takani - I-" She set down her glass, let her fingers rub chill over each other. "Tae - there's - can you tell me about... scarves? I _don't_ want to ask Sano, and Kenshin's already blushing, and Dr. Gensai is... well..."

"Older, and a man." Tae gave her a quick grin, lightly edged with fangs. "And as a Sorcerer, far too much the gentleman to be involved in blood-sports."

"Um..." Darn it, she could _feel_ her face heating up. "Everybody... seems to think if - ah - a Kin who likes blood gets involved with someone..."

"You want to know if he'll bite?" Tae's brows went up. "You're serious? About Battousai?"

"About _Kenshin,_" Kaoru insisted, trying not to think too hard about a rooftop kiss. "And... I guess..."

Dismay, disbelief, and a flicker of irony chased each other across Tae's face, settling to a sort of wry sympathy. "I have to say, it's likely," the Ubo nodded. "I do. Especially if it's serious. Hasn't been lately, but-" she lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug, let it fall. "If you're hurt, or if he's hurt, don't neck. Don't even start. Hungry Kin can slip, even with people they care about. It's awful." A slight smile touched her face. "Outside of that - well, he is a guy. Just keep a Bane by the bed, so you can grab it if you need to tell him no means _no._"

_I'm going to die of embarrassment. Right here, right now._

"But it doesn't _have_ to be the neck," Tae went on. "Maybe if you both like it there, sure - but if all you're trying to do is take a _little_ at a time, sometimes it's better not to do the neck. Shoulder works. Earlobe, elbow, wrist..." Tae watched her blush deepen, and smirked. "Like the wrist, huh?"

"Um..."

"And some people like the ankle, too," Tae went on deliberately. "Or the _thigh_..."

"All right, all right - TMI!" Kaoru covered her ears. "I'm going to be scarred for life."

"Vampire bites don't scar," Tae waved it off.

Strangling a throw-pillow, Kaoru mock-glared at her friend. "Who said anything about bites?"

Tae giggled. "Hey - no, wait!"

Feather-stuffed weapon in hand, Kaoru pounced.

---------

_Teeth,_ Kenshin registered, trying not to stare upward at near seven-foot-six of gray suit-clad muscle looming in the deepening twilight. It didn't help that he could remember exactly what a Magadon like Freddy used those strong, white teeth for; tearing the raw flesh off prey it'd lured away by taking the form of something the mortal trusted. Unconsciously, his grip on Yahiko's shoulder tightened.

:_It's this, or stay near Megumi while Sano tries to badger more information out of her,_: Battousai pointed out. :_Not to mention, while he bangs and curses on that nest of computers he's set up in our apartment, trying to connect the dots between what little she has told us and Kanryuu._:

Good point.

The Magadon's lip curled. "We're not open yet."

The rumble went straight to his bones, like a personal earthquake. Kenshin gritted his teeth and stood his ground. "I called ahead. I'm here to see Golgotha."

Freddy's eyes went to dark slits. Slid over to the wide-eyed kid standing speechless beside him. "No snacks."

Battousai's chill wrapped him, and he felt his eyes burn amber. "I don't bring _snacks._"

"You!" A massive fist clenched.

"You do remember what happened the last time you tried that." Battousai's gaze never wavered. "If you wish another... duel... I will oblige you. But only if Yahiko is out of range."

:_Are you crazy? We can't-_:

_We most certainly_ can, _my own. Like most Magadon, Freddy relies on his strength more than skill. We can't let him lay hands on us, no - but so long as we do not, Sanosuke is more difficult to defeat._

"What's your problem, anyway?" Yahiko said defiantly.

"Mouthy little herd." Teeth visibly sharpened. "Bet those lips would look good in lemon slices. Oh yeah."

Battousai kept his hand resting on the teen's shoulder, reaching into that ki so akin to his own, holding the cub when fear and common sense would have made him bolt. _Face, little one. Trust me._

Fear shivered through Yahiko's ki, draining the color from his face, but he did not run.

:_What are you doing?_:

_I'm... not entirely sure, my heart,_ Battousai admitted. _But he is_ our _cub, and he will not lose honor to a lesser creature!_

Another few seconds; a slight tightening of amber eyes, matching the none-too-subtle threat of flexing muscles-

Growling, Freddy stepped aside. "Through the back."

Red hair dipped slightly. "Thank you."

He walked the cub inside, past a few empty tables. Stopped near the equally empty bar, breathing in pure relief as the club door closed behind them. And breathing out-

Kenshin blinked, patting his brother's shoulder once more to be certain he was there, before the teen stepped away. "Yahiko-"

"I heard you," Yahiko whispered. "In my head."

Kenshin tried not to let his jaw drop. _How?_

:_I can reach other minds through the sword,_: Battousai said slowly. :_And... you_ are _my sword._:

_When ki touches ki. And Yahiko's is... like ours..._ Kenshin caught his brother's hand. _Little one?_

Brown eyes glared at him, anger covering the flash of fear. "Who you calling _little?_"

Shuffling footsteps cut off any attempt to explain. "Bar's still closed," a tall, sallow man said slowly, pulling out a faded blue cloth to polish the scarred but spotless counter. "Could get you a soda, if you want." Dry eyes looked over them both. "Or a red beer...?"

"Phillip." Kenshin gave the Zombie a polite bow, quelling the involuntary flare of thirst at the casual mention of blood. _It's not any different from what you have at home._

But it was different. This wasn't a private arrangement with a butcher, with all its hints of secret shame. This was a place Kin could indulge inhuman needs with the same casual ease as ordinary mortals enjoyed a night on the town.

In a way, it was even more frightening than Virus.

_Focus._ "Later, perhaps," Kenshin answered. "For now... we came to speak with Golgotha."

Dry skin stretched as a brow rose. "I know you?"

"I suspect you will," Kenshin muttered.

Like any good bartender, Phil knew when to let something drop. He nodded toward the door in the back wall marked _Private: By invitation only_.

Letting out a slow breath, Kenshin headed that way. "Stay-"

"Close to you, yeah, I heard it the first dozen times..."

Kenshin sighed at the roll of brown eyes. "It's only - this isn't safe, Yahiko." _It's only the best of bad options._

Leave Yahiko back in the apartment with Megumi and Sano? Not a chance. Sanosuke could protect himself if the witch decided to be less than honest with them. Yahiko - no. Leave the teen with Kaoru? Leaving aside the lumps he'd get from even suggesting she drag a sullen student along to see her friend - he knew his little brother. If there were trouble anywhere in a five-block radius, Yahiko would find it.

And Virus was still looking for them.

_Focus. You only get one shot at this._ Keshin walked across Club AfterDark's empty dance floor, past the tables and the Kin band Dark Harvest setting up onstage, toward one of the private booths in the back. He could feel the Ogre drummer's gaze linger on Yahiko... but there were plenty of small Kin. So long as his brother stayed close, no one should question the teen's presence.

_I hope._

:_At least it's early yet. If Dark Harvest was onstage playing, you couldn't hear yourself think._:

_Hardcore's not your style? _

:_Political nihilism, with instruments played for energy instead of skill? No. Nor yours, if I recall. We know enough of death and pain. Dreams, and hope - that sustains us._:

And they were in front of a tall, seated man in a casually-ripped leather jacket and dark pants, bald head showing off his pointed, earring-laced ears. A solid man; where Freddy was obvious muscle, Golgotha had the sturdy frame of a man who favored the Roman short sword. Fangs glinted in his smile. "Evening."

Trying not to shake, Kenshin bowed in the way he and Battousai had polished before leaving home; the rough grace a samurai might use in the field to a _daimyo_ of still-unknown alliance. "Kenshin Himura." He inclined his head toward his brother. Who wasn't bowing, but staring. _Argh._ "My brother, Yahiko. We're pleased to meet you."

"Sit down."

Soft. But it wasn't a request. Kenshin latched onto Yahiko's arm, trying to make it look casual as he ushered the teen into the inside seat on their side of the booth. The band might have been fooled; he had no illusions that Golgotha was.

"The last time Battousai came through here," the vampire elder went on, mild as a summer night, "he ended up taking down a Skinthief right outside my fire-door. Clean kill. Professional. Scared the hell out of the Crowley who went out for a smoke. Haven't seen that poor bastard back here since." A pale brow went up. "Street said Ward went down, but you... you're not the kind I'd expect Petrio to pick."

_Sky-diving is simple. First, step out of the plane..._ Kenshin braced himself. "He didn't."

The other brow went up. "Interesting." Golgotha turned his look on Yahiko. "You dealing with it? Kin's hard on family..." He stared a little harder at Yahiko's neck. And the scars.

"Virus," Kenshin stated.

"I know the marks." That ancient gaze swept back to him. "You tagged him on top of that."

Kenshin's throat closed. "It was trying to Infect him."

"Good to look after your own." A wide hand spread, palm-up. "Hand."

Yahiko bristled. "I'm not going to-"

"You're young, and you've got your pride," the elder vampire said levelly. "I understand that. Most Kin won't. Help your brother, Yahiko. Hand."

Muttering under his breath, Yahiko slapped his hand down on the booth table.

Golgotha seized it with effortless grace, one sharp fingernail drawing blood from the side of the teen's index finger. He lifted the ruby drop to sniff even as Yahiko squawked and yanked back, tasting crimson like a doubtful chef as Kenshin kept the outraged teen from grabbing for his new bokken. "Seal that, before the smell spreads."

Kenshin pounced and licked, trying not to think too hard about the way Yahiko's blood seemed to sparkle on his tongue. Bad enough to feel that way about Kaoru. His own brother...

:_But... we're not hungry for it, my heart. Can't you feel it? When we taste him, we want - not to feed on him, but..._:

_To protect him. _

Which was _not_ the feeling Battousai remembered having for Sano, even after he'd marked the agent. Feeding on Sano had been feeding, pure and simple.

This was - different. Odd. As if something in him relaxed at that sparkle on his tongue, wanting nothing more than to wrap warmth around it and purr.

"You're _squashing_ me..."

Blushing, Kenshin let go. _Just a hug. That's all._

:_No. It's not._: Battousai shifted within him, restless and afraid. :_And that is why we are here._:

Kenshin nodded once, accepting that fear. "What have I done to my brother?"

The elder Kin licked his tongue across the back of his fangs, sober and thoughtful. "Haven't tasted that in a long, long time..." He drummed his fingers on the table once, then seemed to come to a decision, closing his eyes just a moment.

:_Telepathy, I think,_: Battousai murmured, sensing the flux of the vampire's ki. :_I wonder who he's reaching to?_:

Opening his eyes, Golgotha looked at them both, then focussed on Kenshin. "He's fine. You're looking after him, that's all. Relax. Have a drink on me." He nodded toward the door. "And while Phil mixes that up for us... what's so important someone in your line of work called here asking to walk in under the white flag?"

"Something may be working with Virus," Kenshin said soberly.

Golgotha went very still. "Like?"

Kenshin shook his head. "I don't know. I only know that - when I was fighting the Infection in Yahiko-" He spread helpless hands. "There was something else there. A presence, that knew who Battousai was."

The elder Kin nodded once. "I hear you."

"I wish I knew more," Kenshin said soberly, listening to the Zombie's footfalls approach. Phil's ki was amazingly bright for a dead man; gentle with listening to others' woes. _I wish I could ask you about Kanryuu, and the Okashira._ But that wouldn't be wise. Golgotha was a Commune Elder, and the Commune's relationship with Target Alpha was wary at best.

Translucent red glasses set down on the table; two with the expected warm blood, one with- "V-8?" Kenshin asked skeptically.

"Growing kid. Needs his vitamins." A stretched-lip grin, and Phil walked off with his tray.

"I'm not a kid," Yahiko grumbled. But he took his juice, and sat back with a sigh.

:_This_ is _a test, you know._:

_I know._ He'd been Kin less than two weeks. By most of the night-dwellers' standards, he wouldn't be safe loose on his own for at least another year. Golgotha was giving him the chance to prove that he was.

_With a handy stake and a sword nearby in case I'm not._ Carefully, he lifted his glass. Sipped.

_Oh... that is... so_ good...

Not as sweet as Kaoru's. But he doubted anything ever would be.

He finished it without hurrying, determined to prove that he could handle the thirst. That he was _not_ about to go berserk at the sight or smell of blood - at least, not more than any other young Kin would.

"Hmm." His own cup empty, Golgotha smiled slightly. "Good." He shifted his gaze. "Yahiko?"

Blinking, the teen set down his glass, some red still sloshing at the bottom. "Kind of rich."

Kenshin sat up straight, feeling a slight shift in Yahiko's ki; as if some unknown strain had been suddenly removed. Opened his mouth to ask-

The scent of vegetable juices wafted through his nose. Vegetable - and something more. "How could you!"

"Voice down," Golgotha said levelly. "You _don't_ want people to know this. They wouldn't understand. I do, but I've seen a lot."

"_I_ don't understand!" Kenshin whispered fiercely. _How could he? How could he!_

"Your brother," Golgotha said soberly, looking Yahiko straight in the eye, "is pulling something a lot of Kin don't even know exists. Some Inuit in town think they invented it a decade back; it's been around a lot longer, but most of the Kin who could do it died out a long, long time ago. Call it a _Shunt_. He feeds; you get some of the energy. Among other things, that makes you a lot more resistant to getting Infected than humans ought to be. Also makes you a little thirsty. Like us."

"Wha...?" Yahiko stared.

Kenshin gripped the edge of the table, hard. "There's blood in your drink, Yahiko."

Yahiko swallowed. Realized _what_ he'd swallowed, and looked green. "No way. It tasted-"

"Good?" Kenshin said softly. _And I can feel it_ doing _you good, gods; your ki feels calmer already._ "What have I done?"

"What you had to," Golgotha said levelly. "You've stepped on the toes of every anti-Herd bunch in town, Battousai. They'd turn your brother in a heartbeat, just for kicks. Now, they can't." He fixed Yahiko with a serious look. "You're a bright kid. I know you're not going to talk about this where other Kin can hear. Most Kin hear Shunt, they think Pox Zombie, because that's what Inuit use it to cure. Not something you want people thinking about you. The Pox scares Kin, understand? And scared people do stupid things."

Wide-eyed, Yahiko gulped.

"I thought you would." With surprising gentleness, Golgotha reached out and tapped Yahiko's lip twice, just above the canine teeth. "If that starts to hurt, you let your brother know. Don't be stubborn, don't worry about where you are or what he's doing - just get back to him and let him help you."

:_He..._ dares...:

Kenshin held onto the blade's incandescent fury by his fingernails, claws digging into the tabletop. He would not attack Golgotha. He would not.

But Yahiko was terrified.

And for that, someone would _pay_.

---------

_"Never tamper with one of mine again."_

Hand on Goddess' vocal mike as he helped Samantha X set up, Tyler Darrow froze. He'd heard a lot of Kin be menacing, ever since the first night he'd interviewed the vampire bass player, trying to get a handle on the world his research for horror novels had led him to believe really _was_ real. Starting with her.

But that wasn't menace. It wasn't even a threat. It was _fact,_ cold and hard and implacable as an Arctic night.

_Cross this line, and I will kill you. No matter what it takes. _

Who the _hell_ had enough stones to say that to _Golgotha?_

The vampire himself lifted a hand as the rest of Dark Harvest made a move that way: _stop_. "Man came in peace, and polite," Golgotha said evenly. "Let him leave the same way."

_Him?_ Tyler blinked at the little, long-haired redhead in some kind of ancient Japanese outfit. _Sword? Not good._ Not that armed Kin were unusual, even in Club AfterDark - but most enchanted weapons these days ran to magical Uzis, not enspelled swords. Melee weapons meant somebody was willing to get up close and personal. _Oh, really not good._

And then Tyler saw the mussed-haired kid, and sucked in a sharp breath. _He doesn't look any older than James._

And he was scared white. And Golgotha wasn't _doing_ anything...

Samantha's hand landed on his shoulder, hard; the vampire shook her head at him, eyes cool under her crewcut. _Wait,_ his sort-of-girlfriend mouthed. _Watch._

Easy for her to say. She didn't have a son just that age-

And... the kid was clinging to the scary little guy? Why? Tyler shifted for a better view of their faces, and caught his jaw before it could hit the stage. _Holy mother of- they're family?_

No doubt about it. Even if the redhead's eyes were pure, inhuman amber, while the kid's were all-too-human brown. Tyler felt his gut knot in scary sympathy. Did weird enough things to your worldview to be dating a Kin. To have one crop up as a blood relation...

Amber faded to steel-blue; still furious, but closer to human limits. Fluid as a stalking cat, the redhead bowed. "For your counsel, Elder, I owe you gratitude."

The writer in Tyler perked up its ears, fascinated. _"I owe" instead of "I am"? _

Standing, Golgotha inclined his head. "For information on Virus, there is no debt."

_Oh. Oh, I've got to know more about this!_ This was full-out, old-fashioned Kin customs on full display; the kind of manners most denizens of the Apple's nightlife had tossed decades ago. Who _was_ this guy?

"No debt, hell!" Bobby Blank growled, along with something else in Russian that Tyler was fairly sure meant something along the lines of, _who the hell is this shrimp who thinks he can start a fight in our club?_

_"Nyet,"_ Golgotha said firmly, giving the Ogre drummer a firm look in the eye. "I don't need to break in a new band."

_Say what?_ Tyler thought, stunned. Not that he would be much help in an intra-Kin rumble, and he knew it; he was only human, and no great shakes even when it came to his own self-defense. But there was Bobby; Goddess coming back from the ladies', sunglasses on and snakes writhing under her bandanna; Shiv 17 tuning up his guitar, withered Wyght fingers ready to rip and tear - and that didn't even get into the kind of damage Samantha could do in a bad mood.

And... steel-blue eyes gave them one cool look-over, and were not impressed.

_Um. Hiding in a corner, good. Where's a corner? _

"One more thing." Golgotha's tone never shifted, still even and careful as an ordinance sergeant with a crate-full of leaking dynamite. "This presence, with Virus. Where?"

A slight shake of red hair. "Where it was, I do not know; though I had the impression it was not nearby. Where I was - I encountered those Virus who carried it in the alley between Zip Electronics and _Wonderful Things_."

He named a more specific street; Tyler didn't listen, mentally snapping his fingers in realization. _I knew I'd seen that kid before!_

Which meant... he might have to do something about this. Oh boy.

Golgotha nodded. "We'll pass on the word." He glanced at the teen. "Stay safe."

"Safe!" the kid was muttering even as the redhead tugged him out the fire door. "What's _safe?_ Libraries aren't safe, movie theaters aren't safe, tomato juice isn't goddamn safe-"

"Yahiko!"

"Well, it wasn't!"

The bickering faded into the street noise outside, and Tyler let himself feel a faint relief. Even if he did have a sudden urge to check that all his limbs were attached.

"Who the hell was that?" Samantha rounded on Golgotha. "Why the hell did you let him talk to you like-"

"Man had reason." And that, Golgotha's expression stated, was that. He shrugged then, humor glinting in dark eyes. "Thought you'd recognize the sword."

"Recognize the-" Samantha X paled. Which was saying something, for a vampire.

_"Bozhe moi-"_

"Son of a frickin'-"

_"Battousai?"_ three voices yelped as one.

_Three?_ Tyler's head jerked toward a dull _thump._

Goddess was passed out cold on the stage, hand still clutching her mike. Even the Medusa's snake hair was limp.

Tyler cleared his throat. "Um, not to look like a stupid idiot, here, but...?"

Golgotha beckoned him down as the rest of the band gathered around their unconscious vocalist. "Sit down."

Wary, Tyler picked the spot the redhead had been in not two minutes before. "Why do I get the feeling a tank just walked out of here?"

"Close." A thick brow went up. "How's _Bloody Blades_ coming?"

Tyler perked up, almost bouncing at the thought of the finished manuscript on his home computer, now in the couple-of-days waiting period before he'd go back and edit it. Hence his being here, without a scrap of computer equipment on him, instead of pounding away on a keyboard. "You come up with some of the greatest plot-starters. Two possessed swords, hating each other for centuries, finding hosts to play it out over and over again..." _Swords. Samantha recognized... the sword._ "Oh."

Golgotha nodded. "He's been around almost as long as there's been a Target Alpha. Takes a body, changes it, switches off control of it with the host. The host isn't Kin - if it dies, it stays dead - but it's more resilient than any human. And it knows how to kill Kin. He's been through... three, possibly four hosts now. Up until two weeks ago, his host was Agent Joseph Ward."

"And now it's this guy," Tyler finished. _Poor guy._ He grimaced. "How are we going to tell Himura - without _telling_ him, I know that - his little brother's mixed up with a Kin?"

"That was Himura."

"No, no; _Kenshin_ Himura. Guy who runs _Wonderful Things_." Tyler had been in the reproductions store a time or two; a nice place, but a dead end as far as Kin were concerned. He hadn't been back since he'd followed the leads that had led him to Club AfterDark. "Short guy, short dark hair, not as messy as Yahiko's..."

Golgotha's gaze didn't so much as flicker.

"Oh, hell," the horror writer breathed. "He was such a nice guy..."

"Might still be." The vampire frowned. "Owns it, or just runs it?"

"Owns it, I guess," Tyler said after a moment to think. "It used to be his parents' place, but they died in a car crash a few weeks before I walked in there. That'd be - over a year ago, now... why?"

"It used to be run by the Dullahan clan. Humans. Always human." Golgotha rapped his knuckles on the table. "Tell Phil I need to make some phone calls."

---------

"So Kanryuu's flunkies add up to about sixty guys?" Sano scratched out notes, glanced around the courtyard garden. Sure, witches needed a little time communing with Mother Nature if they wanted to keep a good grip on their magic. And definitely, it was easier to talk to Megumi out here while Misao tried to unravel the knot he'd made of the computer system in Kenshin's apartment, _and_ easier to fiddle with the gym-bag of new gear Misao had brought for his partner without the lab tech futzing over his shoulder. Not to mention the wards on the Graystone apartment complex _did_ cover the garden; it shouldn't be any more dangerous out here than inside.

But he still didn't _like_ it.

"Mmm." Megumi shrugged, toying with a long strap of green leaf.

"I wouldn't," Sano warned, barely glancing toward smoke-touched pots. _Ten runners, ten guns, ten leg-breakers, thirty Beijings; sheesh, private army, all right._ "Kenshin saved those daylilies from his last apartment. And the guy's been having a really bad month."

"Hmph." But she let go of the grassy leaf, caressing its spidery red-and-lime-green flower instead. Looked over the various tools Kenshin had abandoned when sunset had neared; trowel, small gardening fork, and heavy leather gloves that went all the way to the elbow, all hastily left in a tote bag after he'd repotted one last tomato.

_Trying to figure out Kenshin's Banes, I bet,_ Sano thought cynically. _Good luck, lady. Outside of that problem with high pitches, Battousai doesn't have any more trouble living in the world than you do._

Which was... kind of odd, now that he thought about it. Kin had Banes; humans, including Witches, didn't. Battousai could Drain, which defined a Kin - even Sorcerers could Drain, and they had _no_ other Edges - but his hosts died like any human.

_When killing a Sorcerer takes a meteorite through the heart,_ Sano recalled. _Something out of this world, when other Kin get taken down by stuff_ in _this world. Cold Iron. Silver. Wood._

Then again, flip the problem around, and you could say _anything_ was a Bane for Battousai. Just not a fatal one, unless he got unlucky.

_Balance. Kenjutsu - ki manipulation - it's all about balance. Anything can hurt him... but Kenshin's right, that hilt_ wasn't _part of the original sakabatou. And his hit went right through a Deflection anyway..._

Frowning, Sano set that thought aside to play with later. "So. Takeda's security, under the Okashira?"

"No more than ten," Megumi said thoughtfully, leaning her chin on her fist.

Sano nodded. "And you got the Spider's Web where...?"

She stuck out her tongue at him.

Sano stomped on an impulse to snatch it. "Talk, already!"

"If it helps you fight, I'll tell you anything." The agent had a sudden impression of perky black fox-ears, as Megumi gave him her most innocent eye-twinkle. "But a lady's past is her own."

"Grrr..."

She giggled. "You're so cute when you're annoyed!"

_You're_ really _starting to get to me, lady-_

_Whoa,_ Sano thought suddenly. _Slow down, you baka. What is it 'Sai always says? "If your enemy wishes you angry, there's a reason."_

_But we're not her enemies, damn it! Why the hell would she want us too mad to think straight when we're going to have to fight Kin-_

Unless that was the point.

A chill ran down Sano's spine as Megumi danced away down the courtyard, the very picture of unconcern. Totally unlike the trembling fear she'd shown in the face of the Okashira.

_She's covering,_ Sano realized. _She latched onto Kenshin 'cause she thought he was good enough to stop the little guys - but she doesn't think he can stop the Okashira. She doesn't think_ anyone _can._

_She's going to use us as roadblocks, then bolt before the dust can clear. _

Smart. Cold, but smart. Well, he was onto her little plan now-

_"Sanosuke Sagara!" _

"Hey - I was just getting a little more efficiency in the wiring, we're not going to get any kind of speed as long as it's just dial-up-"

Oh no, Sano cringed. No, no, no; it couldn't be-

A steaming kendo instructor dragged a protesting lab tech into the garden by the collar, bokken waving whenever Misao tried to bolt. "Why," Kaoru gritted out, "Did you tell her she could put a _hole_ in my _wall?_"

"Itachi-jou," Sano groaned.

"But you said she needs access!" Misao protested, squirming half out of the stranglehold. "And I can only put in one line; you _know_ how touchy that circuit wizardry is. One log-on; one apartment. So..."

Kaoru let go, the better to get a two-handed grip on shaped oak. "So you knock a hole in my wall I could drive a truck through?"

"Principle of intent," Misao shrugged. "A hole's a hole. A door's a door; magically speaking, they'd still be two apartments. An archway, though- hey, I was trying to help!" She ducked another swing. "Look, I tried not to get too much dust on your stuff; that's why I used the saw, instead of a hammer like Sano wanted!"

_"What?"_

_Oops._ Sano tried to grin, as Kaoru turned his way with an evil look to match Battousai in a bad mood. _Busted._ "Ah. I can explain..."

As he got set to run for his life, he thought he saw Megumi smile wistfully.

And then joints and muscles cracked as inhuman power tried to flatten him into a carpet, and he couldn't even scream.

---------

"Okay, I've heard of break-ins," Yahiko said numbly, staring through the lingering haze of dust at the two-door-wide hole into Kaoru's apartment. "But _this_ takes the cake."

:_Misao,_: Battousai sighed.

"How do you know?" Kenshin asked, almost as dazed.

:_There are dust protectors over all the computer equipment._:

Shaking his head, Kenshin stepped through the opening into what had been Kaoru's apartment... still was Kaoru's apartment, on paper. But not so far as magic was concerned. He could sense it, reaching out for the wards woven about the building; energies that had responded to Misao's human use of _intent_ as surely as they would a sorcerer's spell. This was no longer a pair of dwellings. This was one home, as quick to welcome his step in the kitchen as it would Kaoru's in his own living room.

"Um, Kenshin?" Yahiko followed after him, wary as if he expected his sensei to pounce out of a closet. "I know you're clueless about girls. But she's _not_ going to like you putting her groceries away."

"She'd like spoiled milk even less." And given how Kaoru had apparently just dropped the two bags of food on the counter, likely in stunned reaction to the hole in her wall, she was already throttling Sano. At least unspoiled milk might keep that down to a maiming.

Besides, it was something to do. Something to feel, other than the fear and fury had warred within him all the way back home. He was torn between a terrified impulse to get Yahiko as far from him as possible, and a stronger instinct to keep his brother-

_-Our cub-_

As close as was practical. And it _was_ instinct; he could track the twists and turns of it, leading into that place in his soul where he and Battousai were knotted so closely together, it was impossible to tell where he ended and steel began.

Kin instinct. Gods, he was so... cold.

Kenshin swallowed dryly, feeling the sword's horrified silence. _We have Infected Yahiko, haven't we?_

:_It's... possible. I know of the Inuit Golgotha spoke of. They use Shunting to re-teach Pox Zombies how to Drain, so that they can heal themselves and eventually recover. Very messy, when it comes to werewolves... We haven't tried to make Yahiko other than he is, but we are Shunting to him. And his ki is becoming accustomed to that flow of energy. To the forms that energy takes within him, as we use our own Edges to heal and protect him._:

_Like a Flinger, who's not quite a Sorcerer,_ Kenshin finished for him. _The easier it is for them to spellcast and move their own energy, the more likely they are to break that last barrier and start Draining someone else's._

:_And then they are Kin._:

Kenshin winced at that grief. _It's not your fault!_

:_Then whose?_:

_Whoever set the damn sword up in the first place! _

:_You... believe I am a trap?_:

_Fear_ halted any answer in its tracks; Kaoru's fear and anger, a lighter touch that had to be Misao's, a blatant _presence_ as Sano geared himself for a fight-

And a subtle quiver in the flow of ki outside, as something that had snuck past the Graystone's wards grew more careless.

_"Sano!" _

Kenshin was at the windowed door to the balcony overlooking the inner courtyard before Kaoru's yell died, painfully aware of Yahiko puffing to catch up. _Stay here,_ he started to say as he eased the door open.

:_And you truly think he'd listen?_:

_No._ "Keep your head down, we don't know what's out there." Drawing on Battousai's knowledge of stealth, Kenshin ghosted out onto the balcony, careful to keep his profile low enough not to draw eyes over the railing. All the while fighting the suicidal impulse to fling himself into the fight first and worry why later - something was _hurting_ Sano, he could _feel_ it-

And that something had gotten past the wards that should have distracted any hostile Kin from coming near these apartments. Think. He had to stay calm and think.

_Sano, forgive me..._

Gray skin glistened like clay in the streetlights, one ham hand curled into a fist. Built like a gigantic sumo wrestler, the black-haired Kin took one slow, earth-shaking step forward.

:_It is clay,_: Battousai noted. :_Golem Animate. This could be tricky._:

Kaoru was white-faced, trying to support Sano's shoulder as inhuman power twisted flesh and bone. Misao had backed off to put some distance between them, all too aware that Body Control had a limited range; dark steel glinted between the fingers of her left hand. And Megumi...

The witch was hiding behind the old apple tree, eyes lost in a half-trance as she desperately tried to cloak her aura in its own.

:_There's more than one enemy,_: Battousai noted, reaching out through his ki sense. :_But they've skill at concealing themselves. I cannot be certain if there are two, or three._:

_Worst-case scenario._ Ki shielded to a ghost of itself, Kenshin flowed over the balcony railing, keeping his silhouette a shape that would not draw eyes. He hung on the outer edges of the balcony a moment; then released a breath, and dropped.

And found himself holding back a laugh instead; three stories was such an _easy_ fall...

_Focus. _

The clay fist loosened. Sano straightened with a ragged gasp, bruises already flowering across face and chest as his body stopped trying to assume the rough size and shape of a doormat. "Who the... hell are you...?"

"Heh. Call me Hyottoko." Flint teeth gleamed in a fleshy face; a ham hand hovered near waist level, ready to clench into another body-squashing fist. "Hand over Megumi, and I'll go a little easier on you, Herd."

"Hand over who?" Sano said blandly. "I swear, you Frankies all read from a script somewhere. Ever occur to you guys that not everybody out there is trying to walk off with your Bride? If whoever made you even _made_ a Bride, mad scientist types being kind of sexist that way-"

"No games, _Agent_ Sagara." Hyottoko's flat yellow eyes slid to Kaoru, and then Misao. "Bounce back from a Body Control, not bad... then again, you're supposed to be one of the toughest Herds out there. Are _they?_"

Face set, Kaoru firmed her grip on her bokken.

"Just try it!" Misao's free hand dipped into her pocket, came out with a taser. "I know what hurts _you!_"

Flint smirked. "Twitch on that trigger, little girl, and she's a steaming pile of guts."

"Coward," Kaoru stated. Blue eyes didn't flinch, even though Kenshin could feel her trembling. "I'm half your size. _Sano's_ half your size. Why don't you leave those Edges alone and face me in a fair fight?"

A deep, clay-shaking laugh. "What's the fun in that?"

And... Kenshin could hear Yahiko scrambling from balcony to balcony down to ground level, even though the teen was trying to be quiet. _Enough._

Deliberately, Kenshin stepped into the light. "I doubt Kanryuu Takeda would approve of your having... fun."

"Hoo hoo." Flat yellow scrunched into a vicious smile. "We work under the Okashira. And _he_ doesn't care... so long as we get the job done."

"You may," Kenshin said evenly, "find that... difficult."

"Hard way, huh?" Flint teeth gleamed. "Works for me."

_Great. Just great. I thought you had a reputation! _

:_Among New York Kin, yes. This one must have come with Kanryuu._: Fangs gleamed in the darkness of his mind. :_Good._:

_I don't want to fight-_

:I _do._: Fury shivered through him, echoing his own; scales tightened about his soul. :_Will you deny it to me?_:

_...No._ Resigned, Kenshin began to let go-

:_No. Be_ with _me, my own. Be ever with me._:

"Who wants to go first?" Hyottoko sneered. "Or come together if you-"

Sano's fist landed in his gut.

Kenshin blinked; able to see what would happen next clearly as if he had a script. _Sano, damn it, why didn't you just_ shoot _him?_

:_Clay,_: Battousai groaned. :_He_ is _clay - and that might let bullets pass like water, we've seen it before... Sano, you idiot, you're too close!_:

Clay fingers clenched.

"Gaaah!" Flesh twisting, Sano rolled clear of the Edge's range, gasping as he got back to his feet. Gray dribbled between his fingers, turning to dust in the wind.

"Hoho... so you dodged." Hyottoko smirked, ignoring the ragged earthen hole in his gut. "But now your legs are almost broken..."

_Snkt._

---------

_Kenshin, you idiot!_ Heart pounding, Kaoru started forward.

Only to have Misao snatch her sleeve and drag backwards, hard. "Are you nuts? That clay guy's an _Animate!_ Don't get into his range!"

"But Kenshin-" He was just _standing_ there, before Hyottoko's disbelieving eyes, sword drawn, face set, and waiting.

"Edge use _is_ ki use, and - oh, just watch!"

Hyottoko's hand closed-

Kenshin _vanished._

"Body Control only works inside twenty, thirty feet; forty max," Misao said hurriedly. "As long as Battousai's outside that when the Edge goes off-"

_"Ryuu Tsui Sen!" _

"Like that," Misao grinned.

Disbelieving, Kaoru watched a red blur hurtle out of the sky, landing a blow to a thick skull she could feel all the way to her feet. Clay crushed, skewing flat yellow eyes aside.

_Oh... I'm going to be sick..._

Hyottoko let out a guttural roar, grabbing for a red gi. Only cloth blurred away again, landing a blue gleam of strikes that left massive dents in the muscles of clay forearms.

Which was when Sano straightened back up from Kenshin's gardening tote on the ground, something small and metal gleaming dully in his hand. "You know, being made out of dirt, comes in handy," the agent grinned. "Poison, bullets, fire - not a scratch. Only _one_ little problem."

He landed an uppercut that staggered the Animate, then struck home into the massive gut, trowel digging up toward the heart.

_"Gardeners."_

Misao let out a relieved sigh, looking away. "I think they've got him now." She met Kaoru's horrified gaze, and winced. "It won't kill him permanently! Not unless they powder him and leave him in the sun afterward. And Battousai-" a heartbeat's hesitation "-probably won't do that."

"Probably?" Kaoru gulped.

"Does that guy _look_ like he came just to _talk_-"

Kaoru cut her off with a raised hand; _quiet._ Something was heading their way, and fast. "Yahiko?"

"You want to let everybody know you're over here?" Yahiko grumbled, emerging from the shadows. "Come on, let's grab the witch and get out of here."

_That's where the noise came from,_ Kaoru realized. _But... that's not the place that_ felt _wrong._

There was something missing. Something she wasn't seeing.

"Megumi," Kaoru hissed, seeing Misao likewise searching the dark. "I can't see Megumi!"

"What are you, blind?" Yahiko rolled his eyes, heading straight for the apple tree. "She's right over there!"

Cat-eyes gleamed yellow in the night, snickering. "Why, _thank_ you, little one."

_What- where-_

She barely got her bokken up in time to block steel claws. The blow itself forced her down and back, inhumanly strong; Kaoru rolled with it, flowing along the circle of least resistance.

_Too strong! _

Too strong - and leeching the strength from her even as it struck, drinking even her will to fight...

She hit the ground hard, breath driven from her lungs. The world grayed.

Dimly she heard Yahiko shouting, a crack of wood on flesh, Misao's sharp _kiai_ as steel shuriken whickered through the air.

And through it all, Megumi's terrified whimper.

Kaoru fought for breath, queasily aware that the impact had felt bad in a way no dojo strike ever had. Something... something was wrong in her chest...

_My heart. _

_It's not beating. _

_Damn it - I am_ not _going to die here!_ Intent as a kata, she focused on lips and tongue. "Help..."

Only a whisper, Kaoru knew, and felt the tears start. _She_ could barely hear it, much less-

Claws shredded her shirt like tissue paper, pressing warmth above her left breast. Fire blazed through her veins, wrapping around the quivering muscle of her heart.

:_Never give up, Kamiya-sensei. Never!_:

_I... won't..._

Heat stroked bruised muscle, healing as it touched. Reminding the stunned organ what was, what should be-

_Thump._

:_Fight, Kaoru-dono! Fight, and believe!_:

_I want... my life!_

And she was coughing and shaking in warm arms, feeling her shocked heart stumble back into rhythm. "Don't try to move," Kenshin was saying hurriedly. "He Drained you - gods, with just a touch-"

"Yahiko," she croaked.

"Ow..."

"Idiot kid's okay," Sano said breathlessly, staggering into her line of sight with clay-stained hands. "Okay as anybody who goes after a Rakshasa with just a bokken can be, anyway. Wood or no wood, you're _damn_ lucky all he wanted to leave you with was bruises, brat."

"Who you calling a-" Yahiko winced at his own yell, clutching the side of his head. _"Ow..."_

Three accounted for. Good. But- "Misao?"

Violet met her gaze, shimmering toward steel-blue. "Kaoru-dono. Please take Sano and Yahiko inside, to Gensai-isha."

"You think I'm going to stay here?" Sano growled. "They didn't just take the witch; they took _Itachi-jou!_"

"And fled over the rooftops," the redhead said levelly. "Be reasonable. Keep them safe." He hesitated, and touched his saya. "Track me."

_"You stay!" _

Kaoru flinched at Sano's snarl; felt Kenshin instinctively draw her closer.

The agent ignored them both, limping to a clay-stained gym-bag to fish out something black and dangly. _That looks like... some kind of headset?_ Kaoru thought. _With a collar?_

"Throat mike," Sano bit out, thrusting it at the redhead. "No way am I going to stay just tracking you without an ear into what's going on. You got me?"

Kenshin inclined his head, accepting the light bundle of Velcro and circuitry.

And was gone.

---------

Translations and info:

_Animate_ - beings of dead or non-organic matter that have somehow gained "life" and sentience; some examples would be Frankenstein's Monster, the Swamp Thing, and Chucky. Vulnerable to fire.

_Big Mike_ - Kin slang for the sun, given its "microwaving" effects on those Kin vulnerable to sunlight.

_Body Control_ - a gruesome Animate Edge, reshaping the victim's form to the user's will.

_Commune_ - a loose association of Kin who believe in peaceful, or at least relatively nonviolent, coexistence with humans.

_Daimyo_ - "great name"; head of a major samurai clan.

_Flinger_ - spellcaster.

_Frankie_ - derogatory term for Animate.

_Kiai_ - shout to focus strength.

_Magadon_ - Kin, shape-shifting Indian troll, consumes raw flesh.

_Nyet_ - No. (Russian.)

_Pox Zombie_ - a Kin victim of Nerve Rot, also called the Pox; one of the very few diseases that can affect supernatural creatures, turning them into mindless zombies.

_Ryuu Tsui Sen_ - Dragon Mallet Strike.

_Skinthief_ - supernatural race that would like to control both humans and Kin; they have no skin of their own, so they steal it from others.


	6. Chapter 6

:_Hungry. So hungry._:

:_Unit will maintain cover identity,_: the mass mind hissed.

Yes. Virus' goals outweighed the desires of one unit. And currently, acquiring the human unit, subclass Witch, Takani, Megumi was paramount.

Leaning against smoke-stained brown wallpaper of one of the Beijings' brothels, the human-appearing unit processed part of the events leading to this current plan subroutine. A trick Virus had borrowed from some of the computer programmers it had absorbed, to get around some of the... apparent limitations of logical minds. Instead of the mass mind working every plan out in minute detail, as it had at the beginning of its existence, it would simply decide on goals. Then it would fragment off a subset of itself to analyze the problem, determine a potential solution, and re-merge its conclusions with the whole.

Fact: the means of manipulating the world known as "magic" gave Kin an unacceptable advantage over Virus.

Fact: while Virus could absorb magic-users, once their innate energy was drained, they could no longer manipulate magic.

Fact: Kin who would not ordinarily be able to use magic could, so long as they were supported by a pool of energy gathered by other magic-users.

Conclusion: Virus needed access to a magical pool.

Such had become available approximately five years ago, when the human unit Takeda, Kanryuu eliminated the coven that had included Takani, Megumi. The pool was not large, but if left mostly untapped, it would refill from the normal flux of energies from the city. For experimental purposes, it was useful and advantageous.

And soon to be completely unavailable.

Due to Battousai, the enemy organization Target Alpha had discovered one of the anchoring Root Magic circuits that made up the pool. That access was now blocked, and given the past performance of the agency's Sorcerers, there was a 93 chance the remaining anchors would be located within the next 48 hours. Leaving the energy either inaccessible - or in agency hands.

_Unacceptable. _

But events had occurred that could now be taken advantage of. As one of the pool's creators, Takani, Megumi could access its magic no matter what measures Virus or Target Alpha might take to prevent it. And she was now in the city at large, available for capture. If not by Virus hands, then by the Okashira's forces.

Who would finally have to bring her past the outer ring of security the witch had always managed to avoid before: the Beijings.

This unit had been one of that designation, a month ago. And, like its fellow units in this subset, would continue to masquerade as such for the next two, until its emerging nature made discovery too likely. At which point they would each select one of the Beijings who had claimed their hosts as friends, and absorb them into Virus to take their place.

"Hey Huang! How 'bout a drink?" One of its future victims-to-be waved an imported Chinese beer. "On me."

"Not on duty, Dan," it replied, drawing on the stored memories of the host it had consumed. "You never know when they'll drag the little lady back here."

"Okay, okay... sheesh, Huang, you're just no fun lately..."

Foolish human. Fun was irrelevant.

:_Unit will wait._:

---------

"_Aggh!_ You little-" One hand touched Beshimi's bitten ear as they scrambled over New York's rooftops; flourished venom-black claws, in full view of the little spitfire of a Herd slung over his shoulder. "Do it again, and I leave you paralyzed for the rats!"

Spitting out blood and skin, the girl went still.

Han'nya smirked under his mask at Beshimi's swearing, coolly pleased by Megumi's fearful limpness on his own shoulders. The Witch had needed only one taste of his Drain years ago to realize how easily he could render her unconscious, or dying, and entirely unaware of her fate. And if Megumi Takani had one weakness, it was the fear of not knowing.

What weaknesses this Itachi-jou had, they didn't know yet. But they would discover them. Or kill her trying.

Though killing her might be a waste. Beshimi hadn't had a good blood-slave in over a year. And if that determination was innate, not a mere aberration of a first encounter with Kin... Beshimi could use more courage in his blood. It could be worth the effort to Addict her.

They'd offer her to the Okashira first, of course. It was only proper. But carefully, with Han'nya there to make sure any Draining was nonfatal. Sagara was a Target Alpha agent, and a notably honorable one; he wouldn't deal the Final Death to Hyottoko while there was a chance the clay Animate had information on a civilian's location. Which meant she had to stay alive long enough for them to reclaim Hyottoko's remains.

Not that Han'nya was truly worried the Okashira would lose control. He'd made sure their leader learned to take care of himself, as a proper Kin did, from the moment Kanryuu had released the new-made Ubo into their care. Aoshi knew how often he had to feed to sate the monster within, and did so dutifully.

But only dutifully. He _never_ enjoyed it.

Which was a pity. True, it was good to have a leader again; though where Kanryuu's allies had found a modern child with ninja training, Han'nya would dearly love to know. And true, it was good for a leader to know duty, and set a noble example for his men.

But a true leader also knew when duty could ease its grip, and he could drink deep of the night-steeped joy that came with being so much more than human.

Aoshi had no joy in him.

_I am his second. His well-being is in my care. This_ cannot _go on._

Beshimi snatched at the girl's hands, seizing tiny slips of paper before she could drop them to mark their trail. "Don't even think about it!"

Determined, indeed. Which drew a sudden, thoughtful frown to Han'nya's masked face. _Perhaps... we've tried willing victims, and those who deserve to die. Could it be he needs one who is neither?_

He was an Ubo, after all. A Kin with grace and refinement even the samurai of old had recognized, and no matter that he was ninja. Perhaps, like the courting samurai and townsmen in the teahouses Han'nya had first struggled to life within centuries ago, he needed a more _private_ victim. One he could court and argue with and sip from, like a butterfly from a flowering thistle.

An interesting thought. But one that would have to wait. "We're being followed," Han'nya murmured, too low for their captives to hear.

"Eh?" Beshimi jerked his head back over his shoulder. A human would have slipped as he ran; the Rakshasa barely broke stride, climbing up onto the ledge edging this roof as they prepared to jump to another. "I hear nothing!"

"Nor do I." Which, in truth, was what worried him.

The two nights Sagara had occupied their attention hadn't been nearly enough for a complete investigation. Yes, they knew what rumors ran the Kin streets: Sagara, once called "Zanza", was a Target Alpha agent; Sagara was too tough to be a Herd; Sagara had never been uncovered as anything _but_ human, despite his seeming resistance to any and all Kin Infections. Resistance the street swore was due to his partner, not any innate quality of the agent himself; a tall, red-haired swordsman of a Kin called Joshua Ward, who loathed all the night's denizens... and when he fought, answered only to the name _Battousai._

A dead Kin, rumor said now; cut down by an enchanted bullet here in Chinatown.

_Fortunately for him,_ Han'nya mused. _I doubt Choushuu's hitokiri would have appreciated his use of the name._

Not that Han'nya had ever had the ill fortune to meet that most lethal of Kin. Oh, he was old enough - as Beshimi and the others were not - but during the Revolution he'd been among the Kin _onmitsu_ guarding Edo Castle, not those unlucky souls at work in the bloody streets of Kyoto. And afterward, when the new government had taken Han'nya and his fellows into its own shadowy arm, Battousai had fled too quickly for an Animate with Han'nya's looks to easily pursue him.

Just as well. The government of Meiji had breathed a sigh of relief when Battousai was declared dead, divesting itself of Kin it no longer needed as protection against the "greatest of revolutionaries".

When he thought about it, Han'nya had to smile at the irony. For all his ruthless murders, Battousai had fought for freedom for the people... and the moment he'd thought that freedom achieved, those who had used him to gain power turned on him like a rabid dog. Whereas Han'nya and his ilk had simply moved from one government, to the next, to the yakuza itself - which was so tightly entwined with governments, there often _was_ no difference.

_And now we are here._ Han'nya made his way across the often-busy roofs of Chinatown like a flitting ghost, Beshimi a slightly noisier shadow in his wake. _In Takeda's service._

Takeda, who in turn served the yakuza - though the businessman was arrogant enough to think they served _his_ purposes, instead.

Fool. Did he think ninja who still claimed the name _Oniwabanshuu_ came only to _his_ beck and call?

_Softly, softly,_ Han'nya warned himself. _He gains money and power; he may yet make the sham real._

Especially with Shinomori at his back. The young Ubo was _gifted._

_If Takeda's schemes succeed, we will follow him. If not - with Aoshi to lead us, there is no one we may not serve._

It was _good_ to have a true Okashira again. Like old times, when he'd been one of the night-shadows of Edo...

And again, that silence behind Han'nya gnawed at his instincts.

Even in Edo Castle, tales of the Shinsengumi's battles with the Choushuu assassin had spread like wildfire. And since Han'nya and his fellow Kin _were_ onmitsu, they - unlike most of the Shogunate - had been provided with a true description. Han'nya's night-vision was not the best among Kin, but it was far better than human. He knew what he had seen.

_Small and slight. Easily mistaken for a woman. Red hair, in a ronin's topknot; usually he will wear a hat to disguise it. Cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, believed to be a result of a failed ninja counterstrike. _

_And his sword moves faster than the eye can see._

Impossible. It had to be.

And yet... Kin could be very hard to kill.

_Do your duty to the Okashira. Assume the worst._ "Wait."

Beshimi sputtered, almost stumbling as they halted on the frail roof of yet another of Chinatown's tenements. Below, sewing machines clattered, whiffs of heated cotton and silk and dye drifting into the night. "First you say we're pursued, then you say _wait?_"

"Yes." Dropping to one knee, Han'nya re-balanced Takani on his shoulder; cracked the metal talons that served him for fingers, and struck.

Tarpaper curled back from his swift assault, forming one kanji, then several-

And the character-scribed roof glowed white, drawing a gasp from Beshimi's captive, a wide-eyed stillness from his own.

Concrete-gray snaked out of glowing symbols, coiling into the massive, wingless, five-toed form of China's Imperial Dragon. Massive eyes glowed like sparklers, and smoke puffed from its nostrils, curling past its leonine mane. _"Do you dare ask me for favors, ninja?"_

"The Cement Dragon," Itachi-jou breathed. "Whoa - hey, _help!_"

"She is not a child of Chinatown, and we took her captive outside its borders," Han'nya said evenly. "She has no claim on your beneficence, mighty one."

Chinatown's most powerful Elemental considered that, coiling in the wind. _"And you do, metal-and-flesh son of Nippon?" _

"I claim nothing," Han'nya said carefully. "I merely inform you that one approaches who is a child of Kyoto's bloodiest nights. And well we both know how the true warriors of the Middle Kingdom have ever defended their lands against the samurai of the Rising Sun."

_"You speak the truth._

_"Death treads on your heels._

_"But your enemy is not samurai, Han'nya of the Oniwabanshuu. And never was."_

_Not-?_ Han'nya tensed, bracing himself for a dragon's righteous wrath. Their pursuer must have crossed one of Chinatown's borders; and within that magical territory it called its own, the Cement Dragon, like any City Elemental, knew and saw all. "I crave your pardon for drawing such a great one's attention by mistake-"

_"Mistake?"_ The great dragon laughed, like concrete crumbling. _"What mistake?_

_"Your enemy is Himura Kenshin._

_"Hitokiri Battousai._

_"The Demon of Kyoto."_

What served the Animate for a gut clenched in an icy knot. "Beshimi. Prepare to run."

"But who in the worlds is-"

_"Later."_ Han'nya inclined his mask to the Elemental. "You are most gracious."

Smoke curled in a sniff. _"Of course."_

"Never a samurai," Han'nya murmured to himself. _No wonder Meiji's government wished him dead._ They _were samurai, for all their talk of equality. How could they bear owing their power to one who was not?_

_"A_ roshi, _I sense. Who were often among the forces attacking the Middle Kingdom... as, sometimes, were ninja..."_ The Elemental waited, and grinned toothily when Han'nya did not flinch. _"Wise._

_"You have brought me truth, ninja._

_"No assassin will bring harm to Chinatown tonight."_

A parting bow, and Han'nya ran on. Fast.

"Who is-" Beshimi panted, catching up.

"One I hoped never to meet."

"You b-better believe it," Itachi-jou got out, jarred into stuttering. "D-don't care how you fooled the Elemental. H-he'll come for us. And when he d-does-" She got a glimpse of the street-wide gap they were hurtling toward, and squeaked.

Smirking despite himself, Han'nya leaped.

---------

"You'd better be _wearing_ this rig, not just carrying it-"

Plotting his course over the next three rooftops as he ran, Kenshin suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at the irritation leaking through his ear-piece. "Sano," he murmured. "Keep your voice down."

"Yeah, yeah; I know you've got good ears-"

"And we don't know how good Beshimi's ears are," Kenshin said quietly. "Much less his partner's."

"...Point."

_Not to mention, you're distracting,_ Kenshin thought, barely halting on the tiled wall rimming this roof before climbing swiftly down, claws catching between bricks near where the faint scent of Rakshasa venom lingered. _I can't believe I'm doing this..._

:_Why?_:

Low enough now. He braced himself, and let go; pushing away from the wall in a leap that landed on the next rooftop, notably beyond the faint scuff-marks left by Beshimi's sandals. But then, the Rakshasa was carrying Misao's weight. _Because it's_ insane?

Silence.

Kenshin raised a red brow, eyes tracking in the dark to find the next faint sign of his-

_Targets._

_Oh gods. This is - like the dream..._ Not the actions, but the _feeling._ The cool focus on those who were his enemies, and those who had to be protected at all costs. Chill that was itself but a thin trail through flames; one step off the knife-edge, and there would be nothing but the endless fury.

:_You will not fall. I have done this before, in Kyoto. And you need that now. You need the hitokiri._:

_This isn't human-_

:_It_ is. _Ordinary, no; such as you and I have never been ordinary. But the focus of the sniper, the hunter, the assassin... oh my own, it is all too human._

:_The Kin kill, yes. And they are monsters. But it is not death that makes true evil, my heart. It is murder._:

_I don't like it!_

:_By which you mean, you like it entirely too much,_: Battousai said softly. :_How simple the world is. How clear. I know, my own. I know too well._

:_But you are loved. Hold to that. Have faith in it. The hitokiri is only part of what you are; and part cannot hold against the whole forever._:

Hold on. To Yahiko's sleeping weight under his arm, Sano's wry grin, Kaoru's laughing blue eyes as she chased him across the dojo floor. Even the sharp weight of steel at his side, that had snarled and soothed and killed... and done its best to always deal with him in honor.

No matter how deep the darkness, they would lead him out again.

Breathing deep, Kenshin let the chill take him.

---------

_I should have known,_ Dr. Gensai groaned silently as he opened his door to an influx of bloodied neighbors. _I should have_ known _an agent in the building was going to be a bad idea..._

Recriminations later. For now, he had patients. "My god, Sagara! What tried to eat you?"

"Animate," Sano shrugged, as if looking like he'd been dragged face-down through the rhino enclosure was as normal a hazard as taxicab splashes. "Forget me; Jou-chan's the one who really got hit-"

"I'm okay," Kaoru protested weakly as Sanosuke half-carried her inside the apartment; following behind, Yahiko winced at the thump as the doctor drew the door closed. "Really, I'm..."

Dr. Gensai looked past the torn shirt to the dark bruise flowering on her chest above a certain vital organ, and felt his lips thin with worry. "How long was your heart interrupted?"

Yahiko choked. "Is that what _aniki_ was-?"

Sano nodded. "Think so, kid."

"It felt like forever," Kaoru whispered, letting him sit her down on the couch. "I don't think it was that long."

"Maybe half a minute," Sano stated. Held up empty hands when Gensai eyed him. "Can't _be_ more specific, Doc. I was kind of busy taking apart the guy who tried to play origami with me. Oh, and if you head down into the garden? Don't take the little shovel-thing out of the big, heart-shaped lump of clay."

"I see," Dr. Gensai said dryly. Gave the agent one more long look, and turned his attention back to Kaoru. _Breathing, not bleeding, apparently coherent; a good start. Let's see..._ He left her side long enough to retrieve his traveling medical bag from beside the coat rack, taking a quick look at Yahiko in passing. _Minor scalp wound, appears to have stopped bleeding. He's definitely next._

Touch and eye and ear told him a great deal. Modern medical equipment might tell him more - but given that the wound showed far too sudden bruising, symptomatic of life-force Drain, likely not. Carefully, the doctor formed the pattern of one of the few street magic spells he'd paid to have developed: MRI.

A touch to her chest, and he knew what he needed to know. "Rest," Dr. Gensai told Kaoru firmly, pressing down on her unwounded shoulder. "Your heart's had a severe shock. Kenshin seems to have healed most of the trauma," and how in the _worlds_ had the young man managed _that?_ It wasn't an Infection! "But right now your system is flooded with biochemical alarm signals. They can do damage all by themselves, if you stress yourself further." He saw the incipient mutiny in blue eyes, and held up a warning finger. "You do _not_ need a trip to the emergency room, Kaoru. Much less a stay in the critical ward."

"But Kenshin-" Yahiko started, only to squawk when Gensai caught him by the shoulders and planted him on the couch next to his teacher. "Hey!"

"Keep your voice down, young man, or I will drop my granddaughters on you when they wake up." Silence assured, Dr. Gensai cleaned blood away from the healing lump, checking for signs of concussion. _No, no, and no... good._ "Well. You've just bought yourself and your brother a very sleepless night. I want Kenshin to check on you every hour..." He glanced up, searching his living room for any trace of red hair. "Where is Kenshin?"

"Chinatown," Sano grumbled, tapping an ear-piece as he stalked the room. He opened a hand-held computer, tapping keys with the unchewed end of a toothpick; frowned, apparently tracking something moving across its screen. "Damn it, I should call Uramura's team to back you up-" A pause. "Yeah, I _know_ he can't move that fast. But we've got a general idea which way the Rakshasa and his buddy are going-" Dark brows shot up, and a wry grin swept over the agent's face. "'Sai, you walking case of bad influence, you. I don't think Himura _knew_ words like that."

Yahiko sat up, disbelief warring with a stifled snicker. "_What_ did my brother say?"

Sano smirked. "Let's just say, if there's a ninja within five miles of here, they're sneezing."

Tucking his bottle of rubbing alcohol away, Dr. Gensai froze, horrified. "Are you saying that Kenshin went after those who attacked you, _alone?_"

"They took Misao and Megumi," Kaoru said softly. "And... he's not alone."

_Battousai._ Ice shivered down Gensai's spine. Hard enough to remember that the gentle young man who'd won his granddaughters' hearts was Kin. To realize he was carrying that killer... Gensai let out a slow breath. "They took who?"

"Um." Kaoru hesitated. "Well, Misao's a friend of Sano's."

_Another agent? Oh dear._

"And Takani-" Kaoru bit her lip. "She's... well, she's..."

"_Megumi_ Takani?" Dr. Gensai's fingers clenched on his slacks; with fear or hope, he couldn't have said. "That poor girl is _alive?_"

"You _know_ her?" Yahiko pounced.

"Know her?" Gensai shook his head in disbelief. "Dear me, young man; you truly need more education in Crowley lore. Why, the Takani family-"

"Problem? What do you mean, 'problem'?" Sano said suddenly. "I _know_ 'Sai. You have targets. Tactical difficulties. Momentary obstacles. You don't have-"

Even though the ear-piece was half the room away, Gensai could hear the faint roar.

"...Okay, that qualifies as a problem..."

---------

_Gold Mountain. Bright Paradise._ Li Chi picked up a piece of blue and silver-patterned rayon, automatically felt at it to find the correct side of the cloth, and guided it through the sewing machine. Absently she listened to the rip of thread; the cough of the Ha twins, both still sick despite a week of herb treatments; the singing gossip of Auntie Ma and Great-Grandmother Chen a few feet away, dissecting the merits of various matchmakers. _I don't think so._

Dangerous thoughts. Spawned from the coverless paperbacks stuffed among the textbooks in her backpack; discarded books from a dumpster on the very edge of Chinatown, that the sixteen-year-old limped through with her halting knowledge of English. _Low faan_ books, that a proper girl should spend no time reading. Her family would say so.

And they would be right.

_But you named me after the Serpent Slayer. The girl who destroyed the monster oppressing her village._ Finding _that_ tale in an English book - it had upset all she thought she knew of the outside people. _Shouldn't I try to make things better?_

As if she could. This was work, and it paid. And if the toilet was filthy, and the fire doors were chained shut - well, there was still enough light to see, and incense burning at the shrine to Gung Gong for luck, and piecework pay so you could always leave if you had to, for a little while, and do right by your family. It wasn't any better elsewhere. She _knew_ that.

Her eyes flicked up to the wires hanging loose from the ceiling, though she wasn't sure why; a glance up meant that much less time, and one less piece...

Wires that were no longer just hanging, but shuddering - then _flailing,_ as a roar broke over the rattle of sewing machines and the world itself fell in-

"Ow..."

From her crouch behind Auntie Ma's sewing machine a yard away, Li Chi watched gray coil down through the sudden opening to the night, wide-eyed. _A dragon... made of concrete?_

Living concrete, somehow, that breathed and rippled and hung in the air like any dragon out of legend. Sparkling eyes swept the shop, touching each terrified woman and child in turn, then returned to their watch over tarpaper and rubble.

A pale, clawed hand pushed aside bits of what had been the ceiling, accompanied by low, unfamiliar curses. Not Cantonese; definitely not English. Oddly familiar, though. Almost like the strange, rich businessmen that came to the Akabeko restaurant, that smart girls never went near, no matter how much money they flashed. Or that rare time she'd snuck into a theater where a Godzilla film had been playing.

_What is he? _

Definitely _he;_ though the long red hair looked like an outsider woman's, and the clothes weren't like anything she could remember seeing, ever. "We are not enemies!"

_"Are we not, Master of Lethal Sword-Drawing?_

_"You were sheathed before. Now you gleam free in the night._

_"Do you not endanger my people?"_

The clawed man was speaking English; the dragon was speaking... she didn't know what. It sounded like Cantonese; but then, it sounded like Mandarin, and English too, and every other language she'd ever heard. It spoke to her bones, not her ears, meaning clear and clean as a nightingale's song.

And there _was_ a sword; she saw it, gleaming as a flick of wrist shook away dust and bits of tar.

Then steel was drawn across the black mouth of a sheath, and sank home.

_He... but... the dragon..._

"We are not enemies, spirit of Chinatown," the redhead said firmly, clawed hands spread, empty of threat. "I tread your roofs in search of those who have taken one of mine, and one under my protection. Only that, and no more."

_"And when you find those you seek?"_ Silver-gray whiskers flowed in an unfelt wind; five claws closed on air, lightning crackling between them. _"What then, Manslayer?"_

"If fate is kind, I will only spirit them away, and do no harm to anyone." Violet eyes were sad. "If not... I will do as I must."

_"It is not enough."_ Sparkling eyes narrowed. _"Little brother."_

_Brother?_ Li Chi lifted her head to see better, ignoring Auntie Ma's hissed injunction to stay down. _But humans aren't... only he does have claws, he_ could _be..._

And wasn't this like the tales of old? Brother, sister, honored grandmother - it didn't matter if you spoke to a dog or a river or the wind itself, in the stories. All might be family.

Though the swordsman himself was gaping; as if the dragon had shocked him, a spirit, as much as it had her!

But he shook it off, almost as if he had to muster his courage like any human. "They don't have much time. What do you want of me?"

_"One who is chained, cannot be in balance._

_"Who takes life, must heal it._

_"Even so-"_

The world _changed._

The ceiling was whole, untouched. Dust and wreckage vanished, leaving sewing machines and cloth clean and new as if Li Chi and her fellow workers had simply stepped away from them a moment. A wonderful, wild scent touched the air; as if boarded-up windows had suddenly opened onto green forest.

And the dragon was gone.

"Oh, yes," the redhead muttered, sarcasm dripping from the words. "That made _perfect_ sense." His voice dropped; Li Chi caught a murmur that sounded like _Sano,_ and _location,_ but the English was too quick to make out. Especially once Connie Ha started coughing.

Li Chi slipped away from Auntie Ma's grab, blocking the redheaded spirit from moving any closer to the twins. "You not hurt her!"

"I will not, young lady." His Cantonese was slow, and no better than her English. "I only..." He shook his head, as frustrated as she always was with barbarians' twisty words. "Wait." A pen and sticky-pad emerged from his loose red sleeve; she watched, amazed, as this outsider spirit scribed readable characters of her own language.

_Dr. Ogumi Gensai._ A phone number. And an address.

"The clinic has many hours," he said carefully, looking at Connie. "And no questions."

He stuck the scrap on a bare piece of counter, and backed away a step, dropping his gaze politely. Glanced back to Li Chi, and gave her a shy smile. "Brave young lady. As it seems the Cement Dragon who watches over you has barred the way I came in... could you possibly show me a way out?"

---------

_I'm going to pull out his hair and use it as a scrub brush!_ Misao thought furiously, catching her breath as her Rakshasa captor finally stopped outside a rooftop door. _I'm going to - yes!_

Hiking boots dug in and sprayed gravel as the lab tech rolled off his shoulder and bolted for the edge of the roof. She'd squeaked and gibbered for her captors on purpose, playing up the fear most humans had of heights; fear that made most Kin feel comfortably smug about dealing with a cowed little Herd. In fact, she _loved_ high places. Grandpa had always said so, usually after a frantic Aoshi had plucked her giggling younger self off a ledge or out of a tree. All she had to do was get to the edge and clamber over - even Kin would have a hard time catching her on the side of a building! _She_ wouldn't balk at a ten-story fall; after all, past thirty feet, it didn't really matter-

And the world blurred, and the edge of the roof had vanished.

_I'm - running back toward the door? No-!_

Metal claws snared her wrists. "Stay still."

Misao froze, all too aware of razor edges near her wrist veins. She stared into the tall Animate's demon-mask of a face, wondering what he had been before some spirit had sparked into life. A bunraku puppet? Some mad ninja's creation of metal and flesh? "You _changed_ it..."

Glowing white eyes were bland, studying her. "It would be rude for you to leave without greeting our Okashira."

She bit him.

_Guess he wants me alive,_ Misao thought a breath later, as the demonic Animate planted her bound, gagged, and furious form back on the Rakshasa's shoulders. His mask-face never moved, but she could almost _feel_ the amusement rolling off him.

Throughout it all, Megumi had remained where the Animate had left her; still as death, dark eyes turned inward as if to escape unbearable reality.

_Why?_ Misao thought angrily as the door opened into smoky air. _You ran once- you could've tried again-_

Only... there was something hurt in dark eyes as the Animate dragged her into the lighted stairwell. Something lost and despairing, like a damned soul who'd struggled to one taunting glimpse of sunlight - then lost it, slipping into the darkness of the pit.

_It's like... she doesn't think she_ deserves _to run..._

The stairwell door opened onto a red-carpeted corridor, furnished with a few thugs missing fingers; Misao heard far-off female giggles, caught a whiff of men's cologne, and tried not to look at the _shunga_ adorning the walls. _What kind of guy_ is _this Okashira?_

A subtle, locked door opened - and they were inside a room that wasn't like a brothel at all.

_Better,_ Misao thought, relaxing almost despite herself at the plain, ice-blue walls, the heart-lifting Hiroshige print of a hawk stooping over a marsh. _But why would someone like_ this _live in a building that's- well-_

Quick green eyes fell on a duffel bag by the door, a thick, heavy blue coverlet on the single bed that was undoubtedly earth quilted into a convenient traveling mat.

_This isn't where he lives. This is just a hideout. Someplace to wait out the sun. _

"Okashira." Setting Megumi down, the Animate bowed; a move quickly copied by the Rakshasa. Misao _mmph_ed as she hit the floor, feeling every thread of her jeans rubbing over abraded knees-

And... that white shadow in the corner wasn't a shadow at all.

Tall. Nape-length black hair, swept back from his face. And even with his back to them, a stance that seemed oddly familiar, though she knew she'd never seen a guy in a white trenchcoat in her life. "Han'nya. Beshimi." A shift of shoulders. "Hyottoko?"

_That voice._ Misao frowned behind her gag. _Where have I heard it before?_

"Temporarily dead," Beshimi reported, sweating. "But with Sagara's reputation..."

"The man does not kill without cause," the Okashira inclined his head. "We should have some hours to retrieve him." He turned, a flow of snow and shadow, advancing on the Animate's kneeling prisoner. "Takani."

"For once in your life, show mercy," Megumi whispered. "Kill me."

"That would not serve Kanryuu's interests." One hand twisted a band of platinum and violet; lifted away from the ring to settle in odd benediction on the witch's head. "But when it comes, it will be clean."

_He sounds... sorry?_ Misao dared a look upward-

Into green just a shade darker than her own.

_No. _

_It can't be._

Paler. A shade thinner. But the face still matched one of three sealed into her wallet. Shameless as ever, Grandpa had mugged for the camera beside his teenage granddaughter as she brandished her new shuriken, almost within arm's reach of the young man their family had taken in years before; a silent youth barely into his twenties, hiding behind dark bangs as he contemplated venturing off for his Master's. The same dark bangs now falling over emerald like startled shadows as he looked at her and _saw._

_Aoshi!_

"Han'nya." Aoshi kept his voice cool, but she saw a flicker of dawning horror in his eyes. "What is... _this..._ doing here?"

"Insurance," the Animate said coolly. White eyes turned to Beshimi. "Prepare Takani to travel."

"But-" The Rakshasa looked at her, then Aoshi, and grinned. "But of course..." Snickering under his breath, he tugged the shivering Witch out the door.

"Han'nya-"

"I have learned never to rely on a foe's reputation when it comes to my comrades' safety." The dull side of metal claws glided under her chin, drawing chill in their wake. "Sagara is unlikely to do anything hasty so long as we hold one of his own." Razor points stopped at the side of her neck. "And as I am certain my Okashira can see..."

Silence. Too silent; Misao saw the flinch and faint anger in Aoshi's face, as if he were still holding an unpleasant discussion. _That's right - some Animates are telepaths. But what is Han'nya saying?_

_"Don't touch her."_

Misao sucked in a breath through the loose cloth gag, only now registering the razor prick of steel at the side of her neck. _So sharp!_ She felt wet warmth gather on her skin, all but smelled salty copper in the air-

And green eyes were dark with terrible hunger, drinking in the scent of blood.

_Oh, Aoshi... I'm so sorry. But I_ love _you. I won't let you do something you'll regret for the rest of your life!_ Deliberately relaxing her muscles, Misao recalled her family's ancient techniques, focusing on tendons and bone. Han'nya's hasty ties were meant to hold an ordinary person; if she could dislocate one thumb, her hands would be free-

"Don't." Hands a hair too cool seized her own, halting her efforts. "Misao. Don't."

"Okashira?" Han'nya's tone was shocked.

Cool hands changed their grip, plucking her from the floor like a feather. One arm held her against him, breath tickling her neck; the other sought her bonds, feeling at Han'nya's quick knots. "Even if you're... one of Sagara's people... you don't know. You _can't_ know. How hard it is, not to hunt... and I cannot allow a threat to Kanryuu's safety to go unanswered. Don't try to escape me. Not like this."

Misao winced at the stronger tug on her wrists, turning Aoshi's words over in her head. Something about them didn't ring right-

Ring. Platinum and violet, even more shocking than the chill of flesh.

_Why is Aoshi wearing a ring? _

And the pressure of the ropes dropped away, shredded by unnatural strength.

_Never mind - just run-!_

Sharp sweetness sank into her neck.

She melted into that familiar embrace, dimly aware of a hand tugging free the gag so she could breathe freely. And she wanted to breathe. To take in the familiar scent of her oldest, best friend, no matter that it was faintly tinged with blood. To feel dark bangs ghost against her lips as he nuzzled her skin, licking away Han'nya's slim cuts. To draw the one she'd lost so many years ago closer, and never, ever let go...

_I have to get away. _

It was faint. Hard to reach past that piercing pleasure. But there.

_I love you. But I have to get away. I have to. _

Of course, there was the nagging little problem of fangs in her neck. Even if Aoshi loved her, he was Kin. What kind she didn't know, probably some variety of vampire; though not Nosferatu, he had his hair - and- it didn't matter. So deep into feeding, the predator within would be perfectly willing to tear out her jugular and take what it could if its prey proved balky-

And... the teeth were pulling out?

Fangs grazed her skin one last time, delicate as kitten-claws, as he licked her wound clean. His ringed hand stroked down her braid; warm now, as were the fingers that tipped her gaze up to meet his. "Forgive me."

_Forgive-? Oh no, he_ is _a vampire, look away-!_

But her eyelids were too heavy to move, and the shrill of warning was muffled in sweet, emerald fog.

"Misao, _listen_ to me..."

---------

_Done._ Aoshi felt the mystical tag settle into place, bound by blood and ki. She could never escape him now. So long as she was within the city, all he had to do was reach out... and he would _know._

_My Misao. Mine!_

It thrummed within him like the beat of her heart; like the flutter of white butterfly wings against cupped palms.

_Hold me within your hands. I would perch on your outstretched palm and never leave; I would ward you in the circle of my arms, and no one would ever hurt you again..._

_As... I have hurt you. Damn this ring!_

And he _could_ damn it, the Ubo realized suddenly. He could almost feel its influence, like a silken net over his soul.

_Spinel sets the ego aside. But love is of the spirit. And it is my spirit that is bound..._

The net closed.

The Okashira stared into dazed green eyes, one hand still resting on that delicate pulse under her chin. Turned her head slightly, checking that his kiss had done its work and her throat was unmarked once more. It wouldn't do to let such a potentially valuable source be discovered due to carelessness. Particularly given the fact that most of Target Alpha was far less tolerant of Kin than Sagara's Triborough division, and thus far more likely to do serious harm to an agent who might be... compromised.

And that, he could not allow.

_But - I am bound to serve Kanryuu-_

Yes. He was. As a sane, responsible leader. Magic bound him to that like forged iron, healing his spirit even as it tried to fragment from despair.

Yet even the greatest enchantment had its limits. If Misao were harmed by his actions - or his _failure_ to act - he would no longer be sane.

Which the ring could not allow.

For the first time he could remember, he felt like laughing.

_Stalemate! Gods, gods, I_ have _you-_

No. He was still the Okashira. He could feel it.

Yet the very fact that he _could_ feel it shivered through him like a battle-cry.

_I can protect Misao. So long as it does not risk Kanryuu._

Unexpected. Unsettling. He should meditate, think on this-

_No! No, don't think. If you think you'll find the consequences; and if you know those, you won't be able to-_ He turned Misao's unresisting form, shoved her lightly toward Han'nya. "See her out of here. See her safe."

Han'nya's mask never moved, but the frown showed clear in his voice. "If it is Battousai, even an Elemental may not be enough. I cannot leave you unprotected."

"We have more goals than you yet know." One of which Kanryuu had only recently informed him of, after learning they faced one of Target Alpha's own agents. An inside source could make all the difference in the world. "Her safety is-" _Everything. Beyond even my own life._ "-Important."

Metal claws were utterly gentle, catching hold of the waking young woman. "Does she please you, Okashira?"

"As spring rains," the Ubo said softly. "Go!"

The mask inclined, and both vanished.

---------

"Grand Central Station," Sano grumbled, glaring at the laptop, two phones, and other assorted communications gear he'd snatched out of Kenshin's apartment to bring back here. Yahiko and Kaoru still needed an eye kept on them, and Gensai wasn't about to leave his sleeping granddaughters. Not that Sano could blame him. If three blatantly hostile Kin could get through the apartment complex wards, who knew what would be next?

Meanwhile, he got the fun job of waking up about five separate city and government agencies to go raid Chinatown. Joy.

But it couldn't _be_ left until morning, damn it. A lot of the guys running sweatshops had enough knowledge of Kin to clue into just what had dropped through that roof. Even those who didn't often up and vanished on a whim, one step ahead of the cops. If they were going to do something, it had to be now.

_And if the Cement Dragon put Kenshin_ through _that roof... it_ really _has to be now._

Like the dragons of legend, Chinatown's Elemental prided itself on being both benevolent and subtle. Busting up a sweatshop was _not_ subtle.

_Either something bad was going on there, something Kenshin didn't have time to see - or something really, really bad is_ going _to happen. Bad enough to tweak even ancient Chinese morals out of joint._ Visions of forced prostitution, plague-bearing rats, or faulty, overloaded wiring catching fire and burning like a pyre danced through Sano's head. Elementals could rewrite history with Event Manipulation, sure - but the more people that were affected, the less chance it had of working. Get up to the number of women and girls Kenshin had mentioned in that shop, and it'd be almost impossible to change a tragedy.

So he sat on his temper and made nice with the Feds, drawing on Target Alpha's DEA cover to claim information on bad wiring from a "trusted source" and the locals' own painful knowledge of Chinatown's fast fades to get the ball rolling. Nobody needed another mass disaster.

"-_Thank_ you," Sanosuke sighed, relieved, as the last aggravated voice agreed they were heading for warrants and hung up. Listened on his ear-piece long enough to be sure Kenshin didn't need kibitzing, and shot a wry glance at Gensai. "Okay. Doc. You were saying about Takani?"

"Well, I don't know Megumi Takani as such," the elderly Sorcerer admitted. "But the Takani family, yes. In a sense, they're part of the reason I am what _I_ am." A wistful smile touched his face. "An entire family of herbalists and Witches. With an example like that, how could I not try to follow in their footsteps?" He shook his head. "I had no idea some people were more resistant to magic's changes than others. By the time I did-" Gensai spread empty hands.

"You were already Kin," Kaoru finished, blue eyes bright with sympathy.

"I don't regret being what I am," Gensai sighed. "But all the same, had I known... I might have chosen differently, yes."

Drumming his heels against the couch, Yahiko frowned. "What the heck does a wannabe evil CEO guy want with an herbalist?"

For a second, Sano almost thought he had an answer, bits of what he'd seen and heard just starting to fall into place-

An emergency squeal came over his radio, overriding his ear on Battousai. "Location Jewelset," Natasha Falconi's British accent was even more clipped than usual as the Sorceress bit out the alert. "Dogs and Handlers! I say again, we have Dogs and Handlers! Any teams in vicinity, respond!"

Kaoru paled. "What is it?"

Sano swallowed dryly, knowing how gray he must look. "Falconi. She's been poking into the mess under Zip Electronics." Not alone, thank gods, though what good Uramura's team was going to do her... "They've got Virus. Lots of it."

"We gotta-"

Sano grabbed Yahiko as he rocketed off the couch. "We've got to stay put, that's what we gotta do."

"How can you _say_ that?" Kaoru's voice broke. "They're your people!"

Sano winced at the accusation in blue eyes. "And we're too. Damn. Far away," he gritted out. "You're hurt. _I'm_ hurt. And every other control team in shouting distance is heading for that basement at Warp Nine. You think any of them's going to turn around if _Kenshin_ needs help?"

Shocked silence.

Sano let out a slow breath. "Jou-chan. Those two jokers didn't take Misao and the kitsune out for cotton candy. _Maybe_ Kanryuu wants Megumi in one piece. Maybe he just wants her long enough to-" _Dice her into pieces, slow and painful; and that's if she's lucky,_ "-make an _example_ out of her. Either way, Misao's..." His fists closed, nails biting into skin. "Itachi-jou's an extra. A bonus. And she can ID 'em."

"You-" Yahiko slid back against the cushions, wobbly. "They'd... _eat_ her?"

Sano met brown eyes for one sober moment, fixed back on Kaoru. "They might have hours. They might have minutes. They don't have _time_ for some other team to pick up the trail." He swept them all with his gaze, even Gensai. "And we're all the backup Battousai's got."

"Sit down."

Sano blinked at Gensai's quiet order, unable to keep himself from stiffening as the Sorcerer's hand settled on his collarbone. Just where a lot of Kin liked to Drain from-

A shimmer of white light swept over Gensai's fingers, and everything suddenly stopped hurting.

"Give that a minute," the Sorcerer stated, stepping back. "Kaoru, Yahiko - no offense, but I'd rather not spend any more healing spells at the moment. I've only a few more stored, and we have no idea what shape Kenshin will bring your friends back in. But in case we have more unexpected visitors..."

"Gotcha," Sano nodded. "Thanks." Oh _man,_ that felt better. Not the same kind of crackly-energy take-on-the-world feeling he'd gotten from Kenshin's touch. Just - better.

"Oh, and Sanosuke?" Dark eyes twinkled. "You _are_ watching over my granddaughters for the hour it will take me to store that spell again."

Damn. Life _really_ wasn't fair.

Fiddling with his radio to switch off the emergency squeal from Falconi's people, Sano caught screams, and tried not to swear. _Turn it off, you idiot. You can't help them. You can't._

But... if they were overrun... Virus might try to Infect them. Which took hours.

And in a few hours, their own hunt might be over. One way or another.

Jaw set, Sano settled back to listen.

---------

_Torch! _

The Virus Natasha glared at burst into flames, metallic skin bubbling and melting. It kept coming, even as the Sorceress put two rounds into it, wires writhing about outstretched metal talons. She backed up - jarred her elbow against the tunnel wall, hard - _felt_ the gun start to skitter free from her grip-

White-hot metal seized her arms, and she screamed.

_Thwa-boom!_

Thank gods for Uramura and illegal weaponry.

Smoke and the flat claps of gunfire filled the underground tunnel, gnawing like metal termites at the gleaming phalanx advancing on them through the hole Virus had blasted in the wall. _Probably from some other dead soul's basement, the poor bastards,_ Natasha thought fuzzily, blinking at the flames flickering up from the hole blasted in the metal torso. A Sorceress' training set the pain partly aside, holding onto her Preemptive Strike spell by mental fingertips. Magically-enhanced reflexes were all that had kept her alive this long; lose that, and she'd be dead in instants. _Three full-blown Virus, two Dogs... four humans and one Sorceress - make that three humans, Nez is holding our way out... gods, I feel sorry for the good guys..._

Wait. _They_ were the good guys.

_Shock. You're going into shock. Fight it!_

Massive gun resting against his armor vest, the control team leader hauled her up by her shoulder, glasses glinting with muzzle-flash. "Ideas!"

Right. Never mind that the metal bastards had burned her near to the bone. Let them get closer, and third-degree burns would be the least of her worries. _Think._ "Stop shooting?"

_"What?"_ But Uramura bit out the order anyway, beckoning his team in with a wave of fingers.

Natasha formed a wish, and released one of her stored spells. _Fade._

And Virus... stopped. Tilted heads back and forth, searching.

"They can't sense us," Natasha gasped. "It won't last long!"

"Long enough." Something not quite sane burned in Uramura's gaze. "Levinson! Stutler!"

"Set it up when you asked Boss let's _go!_" Rachel Levinson said in one rush, ducking under arms as Virus struck out at the foes it knew had to be there.

_Set_ what _up?_ Natasha wanted to ask as the team dragged her up and out through Zip Electronics. But was preempted by a few more important details. Like breathing.

And then ducking.

_Gods... no!_

Magic-touched reflexes were all that gave her time to react; a clench of will summoned Meathooks, black metal shooting up through Nez's sprawled body to impale the wet-wire forms of his killers.

_No, no, no..._

But Natasha had seen the human ruin left in the wake of London's Blitz, and summoned that same determination not to feel now. Her eyes were dry as she took in Nez's Drained husk, as one of the Virus Dogs' razor teeth grazed her shoulder, as she stepped to the side and put the rest of a clip of razortops through the chest processors that served the pair of them for brains.

Drop the clip. Reload. Too many targets-

_Paralysis. _

Twelve bodies thumped to the ground.

"Son of a-" Stutler panted as he fought the spell, painfully wriggling out from under a Dog as it twitched, still trying to Drain. "They're still _coming,_ damn you!"

"I know." Detached, Natasha put rounds in those Virus not frozen by the spell, got her arm under Uramura's limp form. "I can't hold this much longer."

"Just get to the door." He was struggling that way himself, dragging a furious and frozen Rachel in his wake.

_Somebody ought to come up with a Paralysis that lets you pick targets,_ Natasha thought as if through water, burned arms pulsing pain up her spine. _I should ask Harvey if he has any ideas..._

"And - drop it!" Stutler gasped, setting foot into the alley. _"Now, Rachel!" _

The ground shuddered.

_I'd forgotten how much Uramura likes things that go boom,_ Natasha realized, driven to knees and stinging hands by the chain of explosions. Shaped charges in the tunnel, she'd guess. Typical control team logic; if Target Alpha couldn't use it the magical pool that anchor held, they'd be damned if a Kin would. The kind of logic Natasha usually hated, that led to shooting werewolves and staking vampires for no other reason than that they didn't want anything to do with hostile humans.

Usually. But not today.

_All Virus is one Virus. And it killed Nez. I_ liked _Nez..._

"Come _on!_" Blood dripping down the right side of her face, Rachel dragged Natasha by her jacket, shooting behind them. "That only blew the tunnel!"

Tears smearing her cheeks, Natasha staggered to her feet, hearing the metal-and-wire flex of their pursuers like the robot sprint from hell. _I can't - I'm so tired..._

But she couldn't give up. If she gave up, she'd never see Harvey again. And she loved Harvey. Loved his laugh, his dirty jokes, the way he licked a finger to turn a page as he did his magical research-

_Research. Wonderful Things. _

Only a whisper of a hunch. But what did they have to lose? A twist of will invoked Magic Sight; Natasha looked down the alley they were retreating through, saw-

_Yes! _

"Inside!" Natasha hit the shop's back door, shooting out Himura's brand-new lock without a flicker of remorse. "Now!"

Uramura and Levinson made it in behind her; Stutler-

An agonized scream.

Rachel tried to dive back out. Natasha clotheslined her with one arm; white pain blurring her vision even as she slammed the woman's bloody head wound to the floor.

_Let me be right - please let me be right, I want to live-!_

_Power_ shuddered through the air about them; invisible, intangible to only mortal senses-

But breathtakingly tangible in effect, as the Virus Dog that leapt for them was caught, mid-air, by a blue crackle of lightning that smashed it to the alley floor.

Uramura stared, and bared teeth in a calculating snarl. "We'll hold here. Get Stutler!"

_Easy for you to say. Gods..._ She fought down a cowardly whimper, and invoked Paralysis once more.

_They're still moving... they'll grab me... they'll take me, and make me one of them, I can't_ do _this!_

But she grabbed Stutler anyway, tearing him loose from the cloud of wires a Virus had buried in his neck and spine. Never mind the blood, never mind the yellow leak of spinal fluid - if they got loose she could heal him, and even if she couldn't paraplegic was better than _taken-_

A shot crashed by her ear, blasting back one of the still-moving metal monstrosities. Uramura.

Lump of agent dragging at her side, Natasha dove back into the open doorway. Dropped Stutler unceremoniously on the floor. Grasped one last bit of courage-

Silver-white fire poured down her fingers, stealing part of her own faltering strength to mend mortal flesh and nerve and bone. Stutler dragged in a choked breath.

Curled around her pain, Natasha let the world go away.

---------

Dry-eyed, Megumi Takani huddled on herself, arms wrapped around her knees as she waited on a narrow slab of a bed. Trying not to see Beshimi's shadow bustle back and forth under the door to her makeshift cell. Trying not to hear the moans and faked giggles of those trapped into what might be even worse lives than her own. Trying not to smell the faint, unmistakable scent rising from indifferently-cleaned bedding; the gut-clenching odor of one of the few fates the Okashira _had_ saved her from. A fate she might not escape this time. Value her though Kanryuu might, she'd given him a great deal of trouble, and the businessman loved nothing more than to punish failure with his own body. Either with fists, or...

Her mind shied from the thought. Her family believed certain acts should only be performed with love, reverence, and goodwill. To have Kanryuu pervert that, on top of everything else - no. Please gods, no.

_So this is how it ends._

No. It couldn't end this way. _She_ couldn't end this way.

_But I'm so tired..._

_And if you're tired, so are they!_ the Witch told herself viciously. _It has to be now. You have to run_ now. _While they think you're still afraid._

Which she was. Terribly. Utterly. Afraid she might fail; worse, afraid she might _succeed._ To win the freedom she didn't deserve...

_You can rest when you're dead._

Breathe. In. Out. Gather the shreds of magic that were hers, all the while searching the enchantments she knew for something that might offer a chance at escape. The truly lethal spells were just not an option; while she was desperate enough not to care if she used black magic, the Okashira's people had always kept careful watch over the ritual ingredients she was allowed to use. She simply hadn't had the opportunity to store anything dangerous.

_So. Street magic._ Fireworks were out; they'd be watching for that, and the last thing she needed was noise leading help to Beshimi. Shrapnel - no; not enough breakables here. Lighter... no, starting a fire in this viper's nest would cause a panic that would leave even more deaths on her conscience.

_But what about-?_

Face set, Megumi rose and walked to the door. Set her hand on the knob.

Jerked back, as if from a flame, an involuntary gasp passing her lips. Shook her hand desperately, trying to rid herself of the fine gray powder already raising blisters on pale skin. _Oh gods - meteorite dust!_

Beshimi cackled, the sound coming clearer as the Rakshasa unlocked the door to smirk at her. "Little Witch! Did you think we'd leave you with just mortal locks-"

A gout of water smashed him into the far wall; Megumi opened and closed her hands as she poured magic into the spell, using the spray to clean the deadly, power-sapping dust from her skin. _Have to love Fire Hydrant._

Spell exhausted, she bolted into the hall-

_Thump._

"Well, well." A blond whose suit screamed lawyer smirked down at her, dragging a painted young Taiwanese along by the wrist. "How's about a threesome, sweetcheeks- _urgh!_"

Knee sore, Megumi kept going. Fire Hydrant conjured up _moving_ water, not running water; Beshimi wasn't any worse than wet-

Shadows blurred, and wet claws closed on her wrists. Cat-yellow eyes glared into hers. "Maybe a little poison will make you more docile, hmm?"

"Let her go."

For a moment, Megumi couldn't believe her own ears. It was impossible. Miracles didn't happen. Not for her.

Not even dusty, bedraggled miracles in a tattered red gi and off-white hakama, bits of tarpaper and pink insulation still stuck in a ragged red ponytail.

"Miss Megumi." A tired, impossible smile, warming violet eyes as the swordsman stepped past a very unconscious lawyer. "I'm sorry I'm late."

"Security!" Beshimi screeched. _"Security!"_

"They won't come."

And the shimmer under red bangs was no longer violet, but hard as blue steel.

"They weren't going to let me in," that cool, even voice went on, hard gaze never leaving Beshimi's, "so I had them go to sleep for a little while."

Wide-eyed, Megumi glanced down the hall to the double-chained stairwell door, where dark lumps resolved into a limp trio of Beijings; looked back in time to see the Rakshasa shiver. "W-what _are_ you?" her captor croaked.

"Only a wanderer." One quiet, calm step forward. "Megumi-dono. It's late. Let's go home."

_Home._ The word caught in her throat, ripped at her heart like obsidian knives. _Oh gods, you don't know what I've done - to try to go home..._

"Takani stays."

Hope cracked.

But her tattered miracle didn't turn a dusty hair, regarding the shadow that had appeared behind her with calm patience. "Where is Misao-dono?"

"On a cross-town bus, by this time," the Okashira said evenly. "She's of no use to us."

"Your words are true, but your ki calls your heart a liar." Amber glimmered in blue. "Has the darkness seized you so deeply you had not even words for she who has sought you so long?"

Megumi hadn't thought her eyes could get any rounder. _What?_

The Okashira went still. "Who are you?"

"One who knows Misao would never have given her name to any kidnapper," the redhead said softly. The ghost of a smile might have crossed his face, or not. "And now, I do know who you are."

_Who-?_ Crazy, the world was crazy; what did it matter if the Ubo who held her prisoner had any other name? He was still the enemy; still the most deadly Kin she'd ever seen, standing between them and escape. Deadly as-

Staring past Kenshin, she paled.

"It doesn't matter." The Okashira's voice was ice. "Takani stays with us."

"They might have something to say about that," Megumi whispered.

Blue widened, blazing into amber fire; the swordsman spun, ignoring the two Kin for the Beijings now rising like glassy-eyed zombies.

Beshimi snickered. "Put them to sleep, did you? I think-"

Chains clattered down from the stairwell door, and a gleaming metal horde surged over them.

---------

Translations and Info:

_Addict_ - when some kinds of Kin Drain a human slowly and carefully, they may induce addiction to that Drain in the victim. Vampires are particularly good at this.

_Aniki_ - "older brother".

_Hitokiri_ - "manslayer", assassin.

_Low faan_ - short for _guey low faan_, "barbarian"; non-Chinese.

_Onmitsu_ - spies, ninja.

_Roshi_ - wandering sword; sometimes used as a more polite term for ronin.

_Shunga_ - "Spring pictures"; erotic woodblock prints.

_Sneezing_ - multiple sneezes implies someone hates you...

_Street magic_ - spells that draw only on the caster to work, instead of outside sources of magic. While they "cost" more energy, they're faster than ritual white or black magic, and don't need to be prepared ahead of time.

New Spell: MRI

Cost: 2 SP.

Type: Street Magic.

Base Price: $3,000; 3 MH.

Duration: Instantaneous.

Target: One patient.

Range: Touch.

Escape Roll: None.

Description: Allows the user to gain an impression of the subject's overall level of health in a manner similar to the Aura Sight Edge. A skilled user can diagnose internal injury, likely cause, and likely prognosis without further treatment.


	7. Chapter 7

_If I had time to think,_ Battousai mused in one stutter-flash between strikes, _I might really be in trouble._

As it was, while a brothel-bedroom door exploded inward from sword and kick and the four of them bolted inside with metal squealing on their heels, his mind insisted on tossing up a number of very pointed questions for one _genki_ Goth lab tech he really _didn't_ have time to think about. Such as, how long had ninja training run in the family, was it traditional or a recently-reclaimed heritage, and hadn't _anyone_ in the extended family realized that telling Target Alpha what Aoshi was really capable of _might_ have narrowed down their search from random Kin feeding on college students to one deliberately out to Infect intelligent, _trained_ security and infiltration experts-

"Window!" he snapped, ignoring the grunting and now yelping couple on the bed. Then _not_ ignoring them, as emptiness snarled in his senses and he flipped his blade to _slice-_

The half-naked man shrieked, lurching as shocks from a spine turned circuitry brushed his arm, eyes wide and white at the blood foaming onto his lap.

:_Oh gods._:

_The Beijings must have had... use privileges._

:_We should burn this place to the ground!_:

_Temper, my own. Breathe. Fight. Live._

:_Yahiko..._:

Ignoring the john, Beshimi tore down a poster to reveal a boarded-up window, started ripping boards free with vicious curses.

_Onmitsu indeed. Never stand and fight when you can flee._

Skirmishers weren't that different. Hitokiri weren't.

Which was possibly the only thing keeping all of them alive, as Megumi added her own desperate yanks to Beshimi's efforts, and Battousai spun to add a deadly slice to Aoshi's dance to hold the door.

_He's good,_ Battousai realized as the Okashira slashed the Achilles' wires of one Virus, clawed the armored throat of another that had made it in close. _He's very good. This could be... interesting._

If they lived.

Keep the initiative. Keep moving. Lack of space and height were more deadly enemies than any Virus; lethal as Hiten Mitsurugi was, it needed vertical distance and room for speed. Both of which were in critically short supply.

But he'd fought in narrower alleys in Kyoto. He could fight here.

_Thank the kami Kenshin's short..._

A flicker of indignation. Battousai would have rolled his eyes, if he'd had time to spare. _We_ are _short. Live with it. Because if I didn't_ know _this height-_

Sandal-soles struck the ceiling, drove him down past Beshimi's flying venom to crush a metal spine in one shattering blow.

_-We wouldn't_ be _alive._

A Dog tore in past them as other Virus occupied their blades; loosed one metallic hiss as it charged for the Witch-

"Bad dog!" _Smack_ went Megumi's board on wet wires. _"Go away!"_

Whimpering in spellbound confusion, the Dog wandered back into the blender that was the doorway, torn to bits in three heartbeats as Kin and Virus slashed at each other.

:_...I think Yahiko would call this a "knife fight in a phone booth"._:

_The cub plays too many video games!_

:_Isn't that my line?_:

If he'd had time, Battousai would have smiled. _Next time, we take the daisho..._

---------

_So many of them,_ Kenshin thought numbly, sidestepping the metal flash of the Okashira's _kodachi._ For a hasty, unspoken truce, he had the impression they were doing pretty well so far; Megumi was shattering glass behind them, Aoshi was taking the mid-level targets while he worked low and high, and Beshimi's venom-darts hadn't clipped his gi more than once. _Too many of them. How did I miss-?_

One of the Beijings-who-wasn't fell to Aoshi's blade, blood and oil spurting, and Kenshin felt like pounding his head against a handy wall. Of course. He'd been looking so hard for the onmitsu and their prisoners, a few newly-infected Virus had slipped under his attention.

_The others must have been out of range, waiting for their plants' signals-_

A breeze gusted in, and he abandoned the door. _Time to go!_

"What- wait-" A stumbling, as if the man they'd fought around couldn't decide whether to run or dress or hide under the bed. "Help me!"

Kenshin was already in the shattered window. Beshimi and Megumi were out, working their way down the brick wall; Aoshi hard on his heels. _We can't leave him!_

:_Yes. We will._:

Even half-expecting it, the sudden loss of _himself_ hit like a hammer.

Battousai sheathed his blade and twisted them out into the night, claws finding holds with preternatural ease.

:_We will die if we stay, Kenshin. We_ will _die._

:_And we would not save him._

:_I do not expect you to forgive me. But you are my own, my heart - and I will not let you die for a fool!_:

_He's a human being,_ Kenshin protested, awash in the chill ruthlessness of the blade, feeling his arguments skim over steel like waves over sand. _You're not an assassin. This isn't a war. This isn't Kyoto!_

:_Is it not?_:

Memories of blood swept him under.

---------

Hands gripping the windowsill, more Virus pouring into the room in a metal-mesh grinding wave, Aoshi shut out the shriek and gurgle of fed-on humanity and cast his self to the wind.

_Shifting... melting..._

White wings cutting the breeze, the Ubo soared into the night. Antennae picked up scents of blood and tar and metal; faceted eyes saw clearly in the ultraviolet light filtering down through night clouds; what passed for ears caught the ultrasonic squeak of nearby bats.

_Wonderful. One more thing to worry about. _

He'd been caught by a daredevil of a bat before. It had _hurt._

Though given the shock the fuzzball had suffered when its would-be prey had suddenly plunged in a proboscis and starting drinking _its_ blood - well, that night-flyer would never go near a white butterfly again.

Fabric swooshed, and bats were suddenly the least of his worries. _A butterfly net?!?_

He dove and spun, silken threads dislodging a snowy dust of scales from his wings. Spinning eyes caught metal-and-flesh forms clambering out the shattered window, another flash of dark fabric, still more metal bodies swarming across the wall like spiders, wires clinging to brick and mortar where thick metal fingers couldn't grip.

_This... isn't a random attack,_ Aoshi realized, as Battousai and Beshimi started fighting with venom and claws, badly hampered by the need to both guard Megumi and hang onto the wall. _This was planned._

_Why?_

Later. He soared near Megumi, _shifted-_

Plucked her free of the wall and dropped, cushioning the impact for mortal flesh. Two near-soundless impacts struck in his wake; Aoshi didn't look, but ran on. Louder bodies were dropping off the building, metal deforming only a moment as it struck concrete, rebounding to leap in pursuit.

_If we can get to a crowd... even Virus knows it can't be caught by humans-_

A slender metal figure stepped out of the shadows only yards away, fingers splayed in an odd, hooked sign, and the Witch in his arms whimpered. "No - not _that!_"

Pain - utter, blinding _pain-_

The world went black.

---------

Eyes tearing, Battousai kept his grip on his hilt, blinking away dark sparkles of resisted magic. "Exploding Orbs," he rasped over the radio to Sano, judging the bitter currents of black magic about them and the metal female now advancing on their small group. "Kami. How did Virus-?"

Dread clutched his heart, and he glanced at his companions. Who'd stopped, just as he had - but were making no move to run again. A quiet keen was coming from Megumi, as if her own flesh and blood had murdered itself before her eyes.

"'Sai?" Sano said tensely.

Blood dripped from empty sockets like the last drops of hope. "Sano." _Oh gods._ "Everyone else is blind."

Carefully, Aoshi set Megumi down. Closed what was left of his eyes, and drew his kodachi, head tilted to listen. Beshimi stumbled to him, catching himself on the Okashira's trenchcoat, to stand straight and shivering.

_It won't be enough._ Sick at heart, Battousai felt and saw Virus closing in.

_"There is no escape." _

A nightmare chorus from a dozen metal throats. Yet strongest, somehow, was the female who'd blinded his allies. "Who are you?"

_"We are Virus." _

"No," Megumi whispered. "You were Ayumi... Ayumi Kinshi..."

_"That designation has no meaning._

_"It is useless to resist us._

_"Submit."_

"Never." The Okashira's voice was pure ice. "Battousai. Han'nya says you were the blade even the Shogunate feared. The Demon of Kyoto." Poised, claws and kodachi gleamed dark in the night. "_We_ will protect Takani."

Steel arms almost in range, Battousai reached within, to the blood-swept presence in his soul. _Kenshin, I'm - sorry._

:_...I want to live._:

_Then we have no choice._ Breathing deep, he let everything but the hitokiri fall away. _Remember._

_"Irrational."_

_Remember Kyoto._

_"We are Virus."_

_Remember Toba Fushimi._

_"You do not know the depths of our power-"_

Steel sang free.

---------

_Aoshi's cousin,_ Han'nya thought, ghosting through the nighttime crowd in mild shock. Misao's bus was now blocks away - but given what he'd seen of her spirit already this night, he had no doubt she'd make it home safe. _That tiny, stubborn, Target Alpha firebrand of a girl... is Aoshi's cousin._

Well, third or fourth cousin, as humans reckoned such details. But obviously of the same determined, ninja-trained clan, for those who took the time to see. A clan she _would not_ name, even under Domination.

Not that she had to.

:_Do you fear to look on me?_: Han'nya had challenged her telepathically, feeling her quick glances as they walked to the bus stop.

Unwillingly, Misao had shaken her head. :_You look - just like Grandpa's stories..._:

Stories? Who in all the world would tell _stories_ of Han'nya, Animate ninja of Edo-that-was? More, who would write such stories, as he saw in flickers of her mind's eyes; tales clearly illustrated with the horned demon-mask, the striped-arm costume?

But in what served him for a heart, he already knew.

_The Oniwabanshuu. The_ mortal _Oniwabanshuu._

The lost ones, who'd fled Japan in the wake of the Manchurian invasion. Those led by Makimachi Shin'ichi, who'd read the winds of politics, the growing brutality their children were suffering in the nation's schools, so like that their centuries-old ancestors had suffered under _daimyo_ cruelty, and decided it was time to return to ninjas' ancient roots. And flee.

_But there are no hidden villages anymore. Even the depths of the mountains cannot hold secrets now..._

Makimachi must have bolted to America instead, willing to risk life among gaijin rather than see the ways of his clan die. For ninjutsu required a certain independence of thought, a willingness to hide and dissemble - and above all, keep a cool head. All traits Japan of that time had been bent on stamping out of her children.

_There_ was _a Shinomori among the missing,_ Han'nya recalled. _It was thought she only died on a mission, as so many of us did - but her body was never found. If she faked her death, and joined Makimachi..._

_Aoshi is one of my clan. And I never knew!_

Not by blood, no; parts of the flesh-and-steel construct that had been brought to life as _Han'nya_ might have once been human, but he had never been mortal enough to sire children. But clan was more than blood. It was teachings. Sympathies. The shared convictions of what was right, and what was unforgivable.

It was the green eyes that had thrown him. Who'd ever heard of a ninja born with green eyes?

_Three generations here. Time enough to blend anew, as onmitsu always have; even with the blood of the samurai._

_But blended or not, changed or not - our clan is here. Within our reach. We don't have to be alone anymore._

_I must tell Aoshi._

Carefully, of course. And outside the others' hearing. One trained to become Okashira would have been taught what threat even friendly Kin might pose to his clan. And gifted as he was, Aoshi _was_ still young. He could not know the strength of vows between onmitsu; how loyalty to the clan would bind a Kin even when all human morality gave way under inhuman hunger.

_We would not hurt them. We would_ never _hurt them._

But Aoshi would not have known that. So of course, the young Ubo would have done the only thing he could to protect his family - _even from himself_.

_Silence. Irrevocable. Eternal. Abandon the clan, and pray the hunger never draws you back to those you love... _

_No wonder he could not find joy among us. _

Well, enough of that! Han'nya bared his teeth as he approached the brothel from the rear, eager to face this challenge. Onmitsu were onmitsu, and Oniwabanshuu Oniwabanshuu, no matter how many decades severed them. He would _make_ a time to speak to his leader, and reveal what he knew; and Okashira that he was, the young Ubo would see what lies were no longer needed. Kin and mortal would rejoin, as they should never have been parted-

_Rage_ blazed through his senses, shattering pleasant contemplation to icy fear.

_Ken-ki,_ the Animate realized, shaking off the shivers as his ears caught the sickening shear of steel through wire and metal. _Channeled. Controlled. Amaterasu's own gentle hand, guiding all the fury of a tsunami..._

_"Armor won't save you!" _

The low, lethal growl of a dragon backed to the wall. Interspersed with lightning-crackle, the whip of shuriken, and the soft _snap_ of cloth as its wearer moved faster than the eye could see.

_The Demon of Kyoto._

Gut in knots, Han'nya ascended the nearby wall, climbing well above eye level to continue toward the fight. Against ordinary assailants, it would buy him crucial seconds; against Battousai - well. It sounded as if he were battling on the ground, but Kyoto's rumors had sworn the man could run the roofs as well as any ninja, and leap like a mountain cat. The Shinsengumi themselves, that most lethal samurai and Kin corps, had tried to trap him in Kyoto's mazes of walls - and failed...

Aoshi was the first bloodied figure to catch his eye, as Han'nya slipped around the last corner into the alley. Blood was smeared and drying on his cheeks, as it was on Beshimi's; but the two fought on, striking at any Virus ears and nose knew was close. Between them Megumi clenched and unclenched her hands, apparently unable to aim a spell without eyes to see. Metal had fallen in bright-shattered pieces all around them, limbs and gutted torsos twitching in tangled piles against a hapless dumpster. Wires reached out in spasms, like anemones caught on dry sand, searching for any last source of bioelectricity to hold off Final Death.

And Death was here, dancing under the streetlights.

_Kami..._

A knot of Virus surged in on itself - only to split apart, oil and gore flying. Han'nya barely caught a glimpse of red blurring out of it, to leap skyward and land a blow that drove its hapless victim a foot into the asphalt.

And the blaze of red was gone again, chunks of black tar flung up by a slice of steel across the alley floor to blast a woman-shaped Virus into a handy wall. Blue fire sparked in its hands, thrown off by the blow; a Virus near where Battousai had been collapsed, asphalt shattering as the creature's weight suddenly increased by a ton.

_Heavyweight?_ Han'nya nearly fell off the wall in shock. _Virus can't use magic!_

Wind snapped, and Battousai was back, grimly cleaving the fire-touched Virus from collarbone to ribs in one clean _kesagiri_.

But the survivors had waited for that. They pounced.

_"Useless._

_"We are Virus._

_"We are one."_

"One will, yes." Amber blazed as he struggled against the wires. "But _not_ one memory! _She_ was Ayumi. And you, who care so little for the weave of human souls - _you_ have lost!"

Hissing metal raised claws and wires to Drain-

And Han'nya twisted his hand, twisting reality - not about Battousai, but along the alley floor around him.

Asphalt glistened, suddenly slick with rain that would not fall for an hour or more. A Virus lost its balance, teetered-

Battousai _let_ himself slip, skidding out of the deadly circle on oil-slick water. Slashed off the wires trying to bite into him with one swift skim of his blade; smashed a Virus' jaw with a swing of his _saya_.

Three more swift blows, and silence fell.

Sword still drawn, Battousai panted for breath among the wreckage, amber fading back to steel-blue as he searched for and found Han'nya in the shadows. "So."

"So." The Animate inclined his head, granting his opponent that last honor before he struck. _A pity. Had you been fresh, I could never have defeated you-_

"Stop."

Han'nya blinked. :_Okashira...?_:

:_Virus was among the Beijings. Kanryuu's security is compromised. I doubt they could have gotten past Shikijou unnoticed; still, we will need to check him as well._:

Han'nya nodded. The were-tiger who made their fourth could never have been taken easily; but if Virus had gotten to the Beijings, he _could_ have been taken. It would be easy enough to check otherwise - Virus could not manifest a were-creature's Edges - but until it _was_ checked, they had to assume he might not be theirs.

:_We may have lost Hyottoko,_: Aoshi went on. :_I_ cannot _afford to lose you._:

:_You know...?_:

:_I heard. And through your eyes, I see._:

Yes. He could see, as Han'nya now saw. Even if Han'nya could not quite _believe._

_I could take three Virus, and live. Together, the Oniwabanshuu could take even the numbers scattered here. But to do so_ alone...

Steel whispered into its sheath. "Aoshi." The breaths were still labored, but slowing now. Flecks of violet faded into that steadfast gaze, like twilight struggling against sunset. "We have... fought honorably together. I know... that does not hold against an onmitsu's duty. But allow me the grace... to speak to that duty."

Eyeless, the Ubo tensed. "Speak, then."

"If we fight now, Virus is rid of two enemies." Violet left Aoshi, skimmed Beshimi, and settled on Han'nya. "But if Megumi-dono and I are allowed to leave this night... Sanosuke will leave Hyottoko's remains, intact, out of the sun where you may retrieve him."

_"Say whaaat?"_ A faint yelp came over Battousai's ear-piece.

Aoshi inclined his head. "Agreed."

_"What?"_ Beshimi yelped.

Calmly, Han'nya planted metal claws on the Rakshasa's shoulder and lifted him aside. The redhead nodded his thanks, and stepped past to take Takani's hand. "Let's get you to a doctor, Megumi-dono. I know one with healing spells..."

"We can't just let them walk away!" Beshimi fumed as the pair made their way out of sight.

"Duty does not allow us the luxury of another confrontation," Han'nya said levelly. "Not tonight." He let himself chuckle. "And we know where they live."

Beshimi growled under his breath, stumbling back toward the brothel where they could find prey to feed on, and so begin healing.

"Han'nya."

About to head up the wall to watch for any stray enemies, Han'nya hesitated. "Okashira?"

"Tell me about Battousai." Wiping his kodachi clean, Aoshi sheathed it, knuckles white. "Tell me everything."

---------

_All right_, Megumi told herself fiercely, making her darkened way down the Chinatown sidewalk. _I have cash on me. I know where I am... more or less. Blindness isn't permanent if you know the right spell. Which I do. All I need is a cab, an herb store, and a day to work the ritual in a hotel that doesn't ask too many questions-_

"Going somewhere?"

"Eeep!"

A clawed hand gently touched hers, doing nothing for the shivery feeling of all her hair standing on end. "I have found a bus stop. Come."

_This man is bad for my heart._ But Megumi followed, letting him take her hand like any two lovebirds out for a late-night stroll.

"Not safe to walk alone at night," Kenshin went on with apparent cheer, guiding her around a cracked segment of concrete. "Especially when Virus is after one personally."

_He knows. _

"The New York Clave is no ally of Kin or humans, yet I think word would have spread if one of their own covens had been destroyed," Kenshin said softly. "Which makes the Root Magic Sano and I found - _unclaimed_ magic - all the more puzzling." A pause. "Unclaimed, that is, save by Virus. Whom all believe _cannot_ use magic, any more than any Kin besides Sorcerers can... yet did."

_He knows._

"Most Kin believe Target Alpha hates them all, equally," the swordsman continued. "Yet _most_ Kin tend to gather with their own kind, or with those of like beliefs to their own, and so never know the true breadth and reach of their own society. While the mortal agents of Target Alpha, much like our Marshals, meet it all - but especially that part of it which delights in murder. Such as the Morningstar Corporation, who plan to take over humankind from within its own corporations. And Red Moonrise, who slaughtered humans so freely Target Alpha destroyed every Kin in Boulder, Colorado to find the guilty ones. And Solution 2000."

"Who?" Megumi ventured weakly.

"Sorcerers, who wish to wipe all that is inhuman from the face of the world, and who believe the ability to do magic is proof of humanity."

Megumi snorted.

"Indeed. But that _is_ what they believe. And so they gather among them, as human, even some Kin who can work magic. I know of at least one Daemon and a Stone Animate among their ranks."

Megumi licked dry lips as they neared the slight echo that had to be a bus shelter, trying not to taste blood. "But that's..."

"_Not_ impossible. No matter what most Kin believe." Kenshin squeezed her hand lightly. "Let me clean this, or we will never find a ride..." A spit-damp tissue moved over her face, removing the worst of the gore. "All that is needed is the knowledge to pattern the spell, and a source of power linked to the Kin who wishes to cast it. Such as - perhaps - a pool of ritual magic, designed to gather a slow flow of power from the life of city."

Megumi swallowed dryly.

"And the knowledge itself," Kenshin went on quietly, "would come with consuming the soul and will of a coven member linked to that pool. As Ayumi was."

She wanted to weep.

The soft swoosh of bloodied tissue landing in a trash can was lost in the rumble of a cross-town bus. Kenshin led her deftly up the steps, deposited change for them both, and guided her down the crowded aisle to an empty seat.

"If I knew Virus waited for me on the streets, I too might hesitate to leave Kanryuu's protection," the swordsman concluded. "No matter what I might be forced to endure. Or... to do."

_He knows..._

But there was no hate in his voice. No punishing tightness in his grip, as his hand held hers. None of the thousand little hurts Kanryuu had inflicted on her over the years.

_He can't... he can't still... care? _

Breath hitching, Megumi sank back into the seat. "I didn't know it was out there," she whispered. "Not at first."

---------

"Generation upon generation of healer-Witches, from the Heian age in Aizu to here and now," Dr. Gensai recounted as he fussed over Yahiko's bandages. "Men, women, children - all Takanis studied the ways of healing. Kin or human, whatever their class; a patient was a patient, and treated accordingly."

Trying not to fidget, Sano perched on a chair and listened. Reinforcements with various R&D gizmos up to and including rocket launchers had pulled out Uramura's survivors; faced with them and oncoming police sirens, Virus had faded out of sight like a circuit-laced chameleon. He _ought_ to be making good on Kenshin's promise, and doing something about Hyottoko...

_Hell with that. We've got hours before sunrise. Until they're back here safe, I don't have to do a damn thing for that lump of clay. _

"Megumi's father, Ryuusei Takani, was even more fervent than most," Gensai went on. "He saw the advances being made in Western medicine and uprooted his whole family to study here, in the United States." He shook his head. "You have no idea what a risk that was; leaving the covens you knew behind, to try and coexist with those of another country."

"Big one," Sanosuke filled in at the matching questioning looks from Kaoru and Yahiko. "Kind of like juggling knives with people you just met."

"Yes, well; just when Ryuusei had his medical degree and was about to return to Japan... Hexenbanner struck." Gensai looked grim. "Megumi's father was killed. Her mother and two brothers, missing. But by some stroke of fortune, or... mercy... they left the youngest child alive." He shook his head. "And alone."

_Like I was alone, before Captain Sagara found me. _

No. He was _not_ going to feel sorry for her. Not if what he suspected was true.

"I can only imagine what happened to her after that," Gensai sighed. "But five years ago she reappeared, briefly, as an apothecary's assistant on the outskirts of Chinatown. An apothecary who was also a Flamen of a coven who actively avoided the New York Clave. I met him once, never quite trusted him... but before I ever had a chance to meet her, he was murdered."

"Murdered?" Kaoru pounced.

"Missing, according to police reports; murdered, according to word among the Crowleys," Gensai nodded. "No one wants to point a finger as to who might have done it, - which is telling in and of itself."

"As in, a guy like Takeda Kanryuu," Sano said flatly.

"Quite likely," Gensai acknowledged. "Though that in itself doesn't account for the rest of his coven. Who do truly seem to be missing, and no one knows where..."

---------

"Five years ago, I had no eye for people," Megumi said bleakly. "The Flamen I served had been working with Kanryuu."

There were other people on the bus; she could hear them, smell them, feel their footsteps as they changed seats. But around Kenshin there seemed to be a comforting space of silence; as if they truly were alone, in the safest place in the world.

"At first, I thought it was only small magics. Simple talismans, such as covens sell everywhere. Even the... more complex items we created, were not evil. Not in themselves. Secret, of course; the coven had been operating under the New York Clave's nose for years, supporting a business that competed with Stuart & Grimm, of _course_ they were secretive.

"But we worked with herbs as well, and that-"

Her throat closed up. For a moment, she thought that gentle hand would touch hers again.

And if it did, she knew she would break.

Silence. Only silence.

"Kanryuu obtained raw opium; I'm not sure where, or how. The coven would enchant it to bring out its full potency, and sell it back. Efficient. Until the Flamen crafted a recipe to create _this._" Megumi let a paper packet fall into her hand. Such a light thing, to damn her soul. "Spider's Web. Stronger than heroin, yet undetectable to drug tests as sugar. If it were ever distributed in quantity... New York would only be the beginning."

She could see it as if it was yesterday; the Flamen's fallen form, the blood dripping from Kanryuu's blade.

"Kanryuu wanted to mass-produce. But the Flamen wouldn't give up the method - _he_ wanted the profits for our coven. They fought; Kanryuu accidentally..."

Now the hand did touch hers; a gentle grip, demanding nothing.

"After that, I was the only one who knew the enchantment."

A stop. Megumi tensed as bodies moved, wondering which of them might be Virus. _How can I know?_

But Kenshin had known. Somehow.

"They told me I was making medicine to save lives." Her fingers bit into leather. "When I learned the truth, I wanted to _die._"

And now the tears were coming, despite all she tried to do to stop them. "But I couldn't. I..."

"Kanryuu thought he had slain your coven," Kenshin said softly. "But he had not."

"Most of them, he did," she whispered. "But Ayumi, a few of the others... I don't know, Kanryuu took me to Connecticut right after the killings, so all I know is what I overheard from security... they _vanished_." Breathe. And hold it. And breathe. "I was - still linked to the pool, Kanryuu didn't know, and I kept feeling this _tugging_..."

Megumi bit her lip, using the pain to fight down the fear. "I was - allowed the ingredients for divination, eventually. After I proved what a _good_ little bird I was. And that's when I knew."

"Virus has your coven's pool."

Tight-lipped, she nodded.

"And it wants you as well."

"I guess it doesn't _like_ little power-blocking rituals," Megumi said dryly. "I can't keep it out entirely. But I can tamp down the flow. Make sure it only touches a little at a time. And I - I can't do that if I'm dead..."

A bitter smile played over her face. "Noble sacrifice, isn't it? Don't be fooled. There's nothing noble about me. I just... couldn't die. Because if I live, if I... keep working... somehow, someday, I might find my mother and my brothers. And for that-" _I can't. I can't, you'll hate me, you_ should _hate me-_

_I have to._

"For five years, I've made drugs to send people to their deaths."

A soft sigh. She tensed for the blow-

Scented with oil and rain, an arm drew her into a delicate hug.

"Kenshin... what...?"

"A month ago, I would never have understood," he said quietly.

_Understood? What's there to understand? I'm horrible, I'm evil - I've perverted everything I've ever known..._

"But death came for me, only because I was there, and I chose to kill rather than submit. _I_ chose that, Megumi-dono. As you did."

_I - what? I did submit, I-_

"Kanryuu would have no reason to pursue you... if you had given him what he wanted."

Wordless, she froze.

"He killed your teacher, destroyed your coven, enslaved you - all to obtain the formula he desires. But you resist to the last. _You_ know the method. And Kanryuu does not."

_I..._

"Because of you," that soft, impossibly gentle voice went on, "New York is not lost."

It hurt. Oh gods, it _hurt._ "You can't forgive... so _many_ people..."

"I know." The pain in his voice cut her like shattered glass. "But I also know that for those lives, for five years, _you_ have suffered." Kenshin released her. "Come home, Megumi-dono. Come remember what it is to be free."

_Free._ Impossible word. Almost impossible even to dream. "I don't deserve-"

The side of a clawed finger touched her lips.

That quickly, it was gone again. She would have blinked, had she dared. "But... when the others know..."

"They do." A smile shone in Kenshin's voice. "If Sano has been keeping them up to date- Sanosuke Sagara, _what_ have I told you about using such language around my brother?"

---------

Translations and info:

_Clave_ - group of thirteen covens.

_Daimyo_ - "great name"; leader of a powerful samurai clan.

_Flamen_ - in NightLife, highest-ranking male Witch of a coven.

_Genki_ - energetic.

_Hexenbanner_ - international organization that hunts Witches and Sorcerers.

_Kami_ - gods, spirits.

_Ken-ki_ - "sword spirit"; sometimes thought of as the "battle aura" of a particularly skilled and fierce swordsman.

_Kesagiri­_ - "scarf cut"; diagonal across the body.

_Kodachi_ - longer than a wakizashi, shorter than a katana.

_Saya_ - sheath.


	8. Chapter 8

_It can't be as bad as I think,_ Kaoru repeated to herself as the door to her apartment swung open. _It can't be-_

Kenshin wavered inside, Megumi clinging to his arm like a limpet, and the kendo instructor had to stifle a shriek.

_It's worse._

Bad enough to listen to Sano's grudging explanation of what Exploding Orbs actually did. To see Megumi's face, even with her eyelids fully closed, with that odd sunken dip that meant there was _nothing_ behind thin skin-

_I'm not going to throw up. I'm not, I'm not..._

Behind her, Yahiko gulped audibly. "Oh... ugh."

"You should be in bed," Kenshin said faintly. "Sano? Why here? I thought we would see Dr. Gensai-"

"And you will, young man." The doctor bustled in behind them, rolling his eyes. "I don't want Ms. Takani moving any more than she has to afterwards. Major healing spells plunder the body for resources; we don't need to complicate matters with a case of pneumonia simply because someone didn't wait for their immune system to ratchet back up to full speed." He waved an admonishing finger as Kenshin guided Megumi to the couch. "That means _rest,_ young lady. None of this gallivanting across the city carried off by strange Kin. Really, I thought women's lib would have wiped out the bodice-ripper abduction fantasy genre; though I suppose that's too much to hope for..."

Megumi made a choked squeak that might have been a laugh. "I'll... try to remember that."

"And as for you-" Gensai pressed firmly down on Kenshin's shoulder. _"Sit."_

"Oro?" Violet blinked up from a sudden, limp sprawl of red.

"You're _gray,_ young man. I'm surprised you haven't been attacking idiots in the street." Gensai pointed at Yahiko. "He does keep blood on hand, yes?"

"Um - ah - yeah, going..."

"I don't need-" Kenshin protested.

Gensai arched one gray brow.

Violet blinked artlessly.

Gensai intensified his scowl.

"...Oro?" Kenshin shot a pleading look Kaoru's way.

_Oh no, not the innocent look._ Kaoru forced her face into a firm line as she stalked over to lend a hand. "You stay right there! You look _awful._"

He did, too; clothes tattered and stained, scarlet hair tangled with bits of insulation and wet newspaper, scrapes and reddening marks scattered across exposed skin. Violet eyes were bruised with exhaustion, wide and stunned and lonely...

"Kaoru-dono?"

She looked away, grabbing for her bokken. "Like I said, stay put!" _Um. What just happened?_

Sano's whistle distracted her from that odd rush of warmth. "Well, _you_ got dragged through a mangle backwards." He stalked over to look down at the redhead as Gensai started taking Megumi's pulse and asking her soft, low questions. "How many did you say there were?"

"I... don't know," Kenshin managed blearily. "More than a dozen... we just kept closing the holes in the world until there weren't anymore..."

"Hell, you _are_ out of it." Sanosuke took the lidded mug from Yahiko, popped it open. "Slow. You know cold doesn't sit too well in the stomach."

"Mmph..."

"Hardest thing is going to be writing this up, you know," Sano went on as Kenshin sipped gingerly at chill blood. "DuBuccio's never going to believe it."

Kenshin licked his lips, eyes half-closed. "Why not?"

Sano rolled his eyes. "Oh, I dunno; maybe because it's supposed to be _impossible?_"

"Saitou could have done it..."

"Who?"

"Shinsengumi captain." Kenshin cupped his hands around the ceramic container, too tired to trust his own grip. "Werewolf... at least, that's what Battousai remembers..."

"One hell of a werewolf," Sano said faintly.

"Mmm." Kenshin let out a few, measured breaths; went back to slowly sipping his drink. "Misao?"

"Called in a little while back," Sano reported. "Looks like Shinomori mesmerized her to get on a bus and _go home._ She's fit to be tied. Wants to tear Chinatown up by the roots, turn it upside-down, and shake it 'til Aoshi falls out." The agent shook his head. "_Aoshi's_ the Okashira? Are you _sure?_"

"Uh-huh." Violet slid closed.

_Is he really okay?_ Kaoru mouthed at the agent.

Sano gave her a thumbs-up, but his smile looked a little forced. Especially when he pushed back red sleeves, revealing the healing bites of animated wires. "Damn it, 'Sai!"

"Looks worse than it is..."

"And how do I know that?" Sanosuke said raggedly. "The mark's gone, 'Sai! You know what I felt like, listening to that mess? Knowing that if we lost radio contact for an hour, I'd have to assume Virus got you until you could Edge and show me otherwise? I can't _feel_ you anymore, and-" His fists clenched. "Damn it..."

"Sano?" Bewildered. Tired. Lost.

"Huh. Guess I'm just as bad as Uramura's crowd after all," Sano shrugged. "Easy not to be afraid of Kin when you know they can't Infect you."

Violet blinked open. "You can't want me to do that." Weary, but surprisingly level. "Not twice."

"Why the hell not?" Sano jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "You marked the brat."

Yahiko bit his lip.

And all Kaoru's teaching instincts shrilled something was wrong. "Yahiko?" she asked, surprised how steady her voice was. "Are you okay?"

From that quick look away, she knew the answer was _no._

_What happened?_

"Quiet, please." Gensai swept his hand an inch from Megumi's skin, from breastbone up past the crown of her head, finally settling three inches above her brow. Whispered a soft chant under his breath, that echoed of moonlight and violets and the softness of a spring breeze...

A blue-white glow swept from outstretched fingers to tear-stained skin, sinking into ravaged flesh like rain.

The doctor sighed and stepped back, rubbing at a light headache. "Bed rest, Miss Megumi. I must insist on it."

Brown eyes blinked open, whole again, and Megumi all but sobbed with relief. "I will."

"And as for the rest of you," Gensai shook his head. "Ordinarily, I'd keep this under doctor-patient confidentiality. But given you've all been in extremely close contact under hazardous conditions, and given Kenshin's apparent instinct to heal first and think about it later-"

The redhead seemed to shrink.

"An instinct which I cannot fault in the least," the doctor went on, more gently. "Sagara has a very stable aura, Kenshin. Much like Ms. Takani's, or most other Witches I've known. Energy moves through it without shifting its nature. Your mark didn't affect his humanity before; I doubt it will now."

Kenshin's fingers clenched on ceramic.

"As for your brother... when an ordinary, non-mystical virus infects one family member, it's at least four times as likely to be able to spread to another," Dr. Gensai stated. "Yahiko is vulnerable to Battousai's influence. Not _as_ vulnerable, evidently; I've examined his wounds. They're healing well, but not as they should if he were truly Infected. His aura is..." Gensai paused, searching for words. "Well, oddly enough, it seems almost as though he's become your Familiar."

"You can't take humans as Familiars," Megumi objected.

"And he's not exactly a Sorcerer or a Witch, is he?" the doctor said testily. "How should I know what he can do? I'm having a hard enough time wrapping my mind around the idea that a sword-spirit can heal in the first place!"

"Sword-spirit?" Megumi said faintly.

"Uh, yeah?" Yahiko gave her a wry look. "What are you, the last Crowley in New York who didn't know?"

Megumi's mouth worked. "...I think I want to sleep now," she managed at last. "Maybe even for a few days."

"Excellent idea." Dr. Gensai touched her forehead. "On one, two, _three-_"

"Hey!" Kaoru darted forward to catch Megumi's boneless slump, easing her down onto the couch. "You didn't have to do that!"

"Oh yes, I should have let her stay awake and risk tempting me into something I _might_ regret in the morning," the sorcerer bit out. "Gods, Kaoru, you heard what she's done!"

"It's not her fault."

Wheeling on the redhead, Gensai sucked in a swift breath. "How _can_ you-"

"It is her _responsibility,_ yes," Kenshin said in a voice like steel. "But it is not her fault."

The doctor started to say something, stopped. "That's a very fine line to tread, Himura-san."

"My life has become fine lines," Kenshin said softly. "She was trapped. She was alone. There was no one to help her."

"That's no excuse!"

"There are no excuses." Violet glinted, barely touched with blue. "But she has _stopped,_ Gensai-isha. Would you punish her for that, and leave her nowhere to turn but Kanryuu?"

"I..." For once, Gensai truly did look old. "I don't know."

Kenshin bowed his head. "Thank you for caring."

"Don't thank me until after you get my bill," the doctor said tartly, giving Sano a dark look. "Your agency _is_ picking up the tab, yes?"

"...Ow?" Sano managed.

"Hmph." Gensai headed for the door. "Good night, sleep well, and try not to kill anything else before morning, hmm?"

_Slam._

"Money?" Sano said, as if he still couldn't believe it. "The man really knows how to hurt a guy."

"Hit _you_ below the belt, all right," Yahiko muttered. "Freeloader."

"Hey! I chip in!"

"On the pizza you eat half of?" Yahiko rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure."

"Why, you-"

"Miss Kaoru." Stepping around the growing scuffle on her living room floor, Kenshin made his way to her side. "Are you all right?"

Kaoru shook her head. "I've never seen him that angry before."

"Are _you_ all right?" Kenshin asked again, eyes straying to where a safety pin had restored some semblance of modesty. "I felt... your heart, I wasn't sure if we had done enough..."

"I'm fine." Kaoru smiled, and was surprised to find she meant it. "Well, I will be fine. In a few days."

"Miss Kaoru, I - what?"

Giggling, Kaoru waved the bit of pink fluff she'd plucked from tangled scarlet. "You're still wearing a roof!"

"Oro..."

"Just wait right there." Dodging a flying fist, she headed through Misao's attempt at remodeling. _Ooo, when I get my hands on that imp! But I guess we might as well use it until we fix the wall..._

The apartment layouts weren't that different. Not to mention she'd been in and out of here ever since they'd moved in; she knew exactly where to find what she was looking for.

Picking it up, though, her breath caught. _Oh, Kenshin._

Red hairs laced through the top layer of bristles, shimmering like flame as they caught the light. Under them, though, were still laced shorter bits of brown.

_Clean out the brush? Or hang onto what you can?_ Kaoru shook her head, and turned- "Eep!"

Kenshin flung up empty hands. "It's only me. What-"

"You're all tangles," Kaoru said in a rush, before her nerve failed. "Let me help."

He blushed. "You don't have to-"

"I _know_ I don't _have_ to." She gave him an evil look. "We could just wait until the whole mess sets, and cut it off."

He flinched. "But you're hurt..."

"It's a _hairbrush._ Not a life-or-death duel." Kaoru snapped the fingers of her free hand. "Come on. Give."

Gingerly, Kenshin sat down edgewise on his own couch. "Yahiko-"

"Is going to be gnawing on Sano's head for at least another ten minutes before he even knows we're gone." Sitting behind him, Kaoru undid the leather tie holding the mass of red together, and started at the tips. "Just relax."

Easier said than done. Pink fluff, bits of oily paper, one or two short strands of horribly familiar wire - Kaoru picked those out of knots near the scalp, and shuddered. _Too close._

But eventually the scarlet flow started to behave like ordinary hair, and she was able to switch to longer, smoother strokes. _Nice,_ Kaoru smiled to herself. _Very nice. Oh, what I wouldn't give for a blouse just these colors-_

_Purr..._

She paused mid-stroke, startled at the sudden vibration under her arm. _What the-?_

Kenshin made a muffled noise of protest, turning to snuggle against her.

Eyes wide, Kaoru brushed again.

_Purr..._

Her hand never faltered, though she wasn't quite sure whether to gasp, yelp, or break down giggling. Though plain-old gasping won a lead when clawed hands found her knees, kneading cloth and flesh like a kitten.

_Big kitty._ Kaoru kept brushing, mostly out of dazed reflex; rational thought was starting to blur at the edges. A nice, warm blur, even if some shred of paranoid self-preservation was jumping up and down about this being a Very Bad Idea. _If those hands start moving, I'm going to have to do... something..._

And then they did move; she felt the wash of wind as they suddenly dipped and lifted-

And there were fangs on her throat.

Gently. Only pressing on unbroken skin. But there.

Purring.

_Lethal weapon... makes brains melt..._ "Ken-"

The world whited out at the edges as sharp canines moved, nibbling and purring up and down the column of her throat. Up. And down. And up...

_Some kind of - pattern to it,_ Kaoru thought fuzzily, distantly registering that the claws weren't idle either, kneading along her ribs in a way that should have been ticklish, but only seemed to add to the odd rhythm tugging at her soul. _Like a sword-kata; something in you has to move._

And something inside her _was_ moving, slow and stubborn as a rock rooted down by time and moss. Something that tingled in her throat, in her heart, in the healing mark on her wrist...

"Hey, Kenshin, what do you feed this kid? Innocent bystanders- whoa!"

Quick as thought, she was embracing empty air.

Mouth still partly agape, Kaoru stared at the incredulous agent and equally incredulous kid brother.

Yahiko stared at her, then her neck, dark brows climbing as he tilted his head for a better look. "Is that a hickey?"

_That's it. Somebody dies!_

---------

_We stopped._ Battousai blinked inside Kenshin's mind, gradually surfacing from the blissful haze of feeling loved and cherished and perfectly, utterly comfortable in his own skin. _Why did we stop?_

Rooftop. A hot summer night's breeze, brushing over his bearer's shivering body. The thorny tightening of guilt and fear-

:_Kenshin?_:

"We - w-we almost-"

:_Almost_ what?: Battousai searched their recent memories, looking for anything that could have spawned this night-dark horror. Kaoru had been brushing them - oh gods, that tender touch! - melting all the terror and turmoil of the night into jeweled moments of body-thrumming joy. Joy he'd wanted to reach out and share, plying tender skin with teeth and claws until she, too, could lose the fear that haunted them, if only for a moment-

Sano. Of all the cursed luck.

"We almost marked her!"

:_...What?_:

"Couldn't you feel it?" Kenshin clenched his fists, claws prickling against his palms. "We were trying to shift her ki! Like-"

_Like Yahiko,_ Battousai felt the unvoiced thought. Tensed at the implications, and dug deeper into blurry memories. There had been something... something beyond the simple desire to share bliss with the young woman who had become his dear friend. Something that hadn't moved within him in a very long time.

_Instinct. _

Usually, ki manipulation required thought. Conscious decision. Yahiko's hadn't taken _much_ thought, true - but the boy was the same blood as his bearer. Kenshin was used to protecting him, to trying to guide him into growing well and whole. It didn't take much in the way of rational thought to extend that behavior to the new energies available to him.

But Kaoru...

_I wasn't thinking. No more than Kenshin was. We were just_ with _her, our friend, our sharer-of-joy-_

_And we wanted her to stay._

Kenshin's shoulders slumped. "We tried to Infect her."

:_No,_: Battousai said softly. :_No, we only tried to draw her closer to us. To protect her. As I protected Ame..._:

"Ame?"

Frustration; even hearing Kenshin speak it, the name slipped through his grasp like mist. :_I don't remember-_:

Bloody rain.

A cherry-patterned umbrella, dropped by a wind-stirred puddle.

Violet eyes, wide and determined as they took in claws and fangs and the steady crimson gleam of a blade.

_Should I... kill her?_

A wind of years; the relief that the Revolution and the dying was done, the heart-stopping joy and terror as clawed hands held newborn innocence with those same unforgettable eyes...

_Ame's cub._ My _cub. _

_Kenji._

Only then did he feel the tears.

:_I'm sorry..._:

"It's all right," Kenshin said thickly, face buried in his hands. "She was your wife. You loved her." He scrubbed away tears, drew a shuddering breath. "You loved her... and you _changed_ her."

:_We all change each other,_: Battousai said softly. :_But... I think that you are right. Her ki was strong when we met; it only strengthened as we drew nearer to each other. Still. She was human, Kenshin. I know it._:

"I can't do that to Kaoru."

:_We should definitely ask before she brushes our hair again,_: Battousai agreed. :_She should know the consequences._:

"The _consequences?_ We can't do that to her!"

:_If we lose ourselves in the joy of her, I do not think we will be able to avoid it; any more than we could refrain from biting, should she choose to honor us with her bed. You felt it, Kenshin; it was like breathing rainbows..._: Battousai savored that memory, set it reluctantly aside. :_So we should warn her._:

"I won't do that to her."

Bad enough Sano had interrupted one of the most pleasant moments Battousai had had in over a century. This line of reasoning was starting to make him distinctly _cranky._ :_Should that not be her choice?_:

"She doesn't know what she'd be giving up!"

:_And I know too well what_ we _would be giving up!_: the sword snapped back. :_Will you never touch another again? Never love again? Never simply_ be _with one who wishes you nothing but well?_: He felt the answer, and flared with rage. :_By all the kami_ - why?:

"People die when I love them!" Fury, and pain - and under it all, a thin thread of fear. "And it's my fault. All my fault..."

_Not fear of death, but fear of what_ could _have been,_ Battousai judged, tracing that faint trail of emotion. _A fear that could yet come true._ Not his parents, then. Which left only- :_Who threatened Yahiko?_:

"I did."

For a moment, Battousai couldn't believe that soundless whisper. :_You..._ could _not have been in your right mind..._:

"I wasn't." A bitter laugh. "And that's my fault, too."

:_How?_:

Kenshin hugged himself, mind aching with the darkness of trying not to remember. "I let her touch me."

:_Who?_:

"Tomoe..."

---------

"For the last time, I did _not_ drug your brother!" Radiating an Aura of Death scary as any Kin bent on mass destruction, Kaoru planted her fists on her hips and glared at a fuming Yahiko. "Why on earth would you think I would?"

"Oh, come on! What, you think 'cause I'm a kid, I'm blind? You let him think you're interested; you let him work up enough nerve to actually talk to you like a person instead of a customer. And then you jump him? That's just what _she_-" Yahiko bit off whatever he was about to say.

Peeling himself off the floor, Sanosuke debated his course of action. _Ask, and get both of them on top of me. Don't ask - leave these two at each other's throats over what I'm pretty sure is just a little Kin-instinct glitch. Not to mention, miss something_ very _important to Kenshin._

_Damn. Sometimes I hate being a responsible partner._ "Who's _she?_"

Two glares intersected on him.

_One spontaneous human combustion coming up,_ Sano thought wryly. "And before you two start soft-pedaling whatever the hell it is - was that a hairbrush on the floor?"

"Ah-" Kaoru couldn't seem to find her voice.

"Figures." Sanosuke shook his head. "Lucky you. Found his soft spot in one go."

"Guh?" Yahiko said incoherently.

"'Sai's got a thing for hair," Sano shrugged. "Kind of like lad- ah, people in _bad moods_ have one for chocolate." And how. A pissed-off Misao after deep, dark chocolate; Battousai after a willing soul with a hairbrush. He'd back either of them, naked, against all of Red Moonrise's slavering hordes put together.

Which was one of the _other_ reasons Ward had kept his hair short.

_Can't be tempted if there's nothing there to tempt, _Sanosuke thought darkly. _Lucky for 'Sai, Kenshin's not a masochist._

If it _was_ just luck. Except for rare instances when Ward had been wounded and needed more than just physical care, the sword had suffered through decades of involuntary self-denial already. Sano wouldn't put it past Battousai to keep his mental lips firmly buttoned about something he _wanted_ until... well, until an opportunity like this came along.

_Sneaky little piece of steel, he is._ Sano stifled the grin, pasting his best serious expression on top of it. "So? Start talking."

Yahiko went white, then red, clenching and unclenching his fists. Looked at Megumi still out cold on the couch. Bit his lip, and blew out one explosive breath. "You think this is the first time Kenshin came home covered in blood?"

Pale, Kaoru fumbled her way to a chair and sat down.

Sano's jaw worked, brain thrown into sudden crash-and-burn. _He's saying... but I_ checked _the cops' records on Kenshin, there's nothing... but Yahiko's_ never _lost it, even when any kid his age ought to be screaming for Mommy, and you just don't_ get _those kind of nerves dropped straight into Kin mayhem, nobody does..._ "Say what?" he finally managed.

Yahiko glanced at him, gave his teacher a reluctant, guilty look. "Kenshin told me I could take kendo so I could get a grip on - on what happened to our parents. But I don't think that's really why. I think he wanted me to know something he didn't. Just in case."

Kaoru sat up, blue eyes intent. "In case of somebody drugging him?"

"Yeah." Yahiko looked down. "It was two months before the accident..."

---------

"Beautiful," Kenshin said softly, resting his cup of soda on the arm of the park bench as he watched the violet skeins of sky darken over the distant lights of the Bronx, an amber moon rising full and bright through full-leafed branches on this peninsula of Pelham Bay Park.

"Thank you."

He reddened a little at Tomoe Yukishiro's soft voice, gaze skipping over her matching cup, past the red-dyed feathers woven along her black silk vest and the left side of black hair, to lift to fathomless brown eyes. "...You, too." He leaned on the green-painted metal bench, registering an absence of other chattering voices on the river-scented wind. "Are we early?"

Tomoe gave him a quiet smile, stepping soundlessly through the dark underbrush to look around this sculpted clearing. "A little. James didn't call you?" She waved it off gracefully. "No, he wouldn't have, the meat-head... he had a late exam. He won't be able to bring the others out for another hour."

A very late exam. He'd thought they were all done by now. But then, Regreening the Apple had a lot of oddball student members. James Sureh was a classic example; a brawny, hairy, mostly night-class non-traditional student with a quick laugh and a serious dedication to bringing wildness back into the concrete canyons. Not to mention an appreciative eye for Tomoe's quiet charms.

_Quit that,_ Kenshin told himself firmly, finishing off the cup. He'd have to buy the sodas next time; fair was fair. _She may have been friendly with him when you all started the year, but even if they were together then, they're over now. You're not a high-school idiot anymore; just because she might have liked him before she liked you is no reason to feel jealous. _

Not that he'd ever had much chance to feel jealous back then. Small, shy, shorter than _everybody,_ and perennially busy with _Wonderful Things_ and schoolwork, he just hadn't had the time.

And those few times he thought about it, he wasn't sure he was jealous at all. More like... uneasy.

_She's taller than I am. _

_It doesn't make sense._

Granted, doubling up degrees in business and art history, not to mention helping out with Yahiko and at _Wonderful Things_, didn't leave much time for sorting out the current social scene. Even the twice-monthly meetings with Regreening were a significant chunk of his free time; which had made his quiet conversations with Tomoe all the more poignant.

But Kenshin had been immersed in history of one kind or another all his life - and history said tall women did _not_ pick small men for dates. No matter how many interests they shared.

_Post-exam paranoia. Quit it already._ Kenshin closed his eyes a moment, feeling pure relief. One way or another, he was done with school. Now... well, they'd just have to see. He had already put out his resume to a few other places around the state, though of course his father and step-mother had offered to let him stay on at _Wonderful Things_ until something came through...

"You still don't like Sarah's plan, do you?"

Kenshin opened his eyes, startled that Tomoe was within arm's reach. _She moves like a ghost._ "I don't think it's feasible, I don't think it's honest, and I'm not getting involved," he said firmly, thinking of the fervent young brunette ecologist. "I really hope we can talk her out of it."

Tomoe gave him a slow blink. "Feasible, yes... but how can protesting fur not be honest?"

"She drinks milk."

"_You_ drink milk."

"Which is why if I did get involved, it wouldn't be honest." Kenshin shook his head, wondering why so many seemingly intelligent people couldn't take a thought to its logical conclusion. "We're working to make things better for wild things living in New York, right? We can't do that and not have more wild things dying as well. Nature doesn't work that way."

Tomoe smiled at him.

_Wow... _

"You were right the first time."

_Huh?_ "About what?"

"This." She said in that calm, even voice, gesturing toward the park, the elements of unruliness creeping through the casual trimming meant to make this spot a place people could linger in the semi-wild. "It's beautiful. I help keep it that way."

"You volunteer with the park?" Kenshin said doubtfully. _Where do you find the time?_ Then again, now that he thought about it, he had no real idea what she did outside of classes and the club; just a vague recollection of her mentioning part-time work in some florist's shop elsewhere on the island. He certainly spent enough hours on the train and in _Wonderful Things_ to fill two part-time jobs...

"Not exactly."

_Nerves,_ Kenshin told himself firmly as Tomoe leaned on the bench next to him. _Just nerves._ He'd _never_ liked full moons, not since his mother-

_Don't think about it. _

"You might say," Tomoe went on, "I _inspire_ it."

_Word-games again._ Ordinarily Kenshin found their verbal battles of wits fun, but tonight... no. _Easy. Remember how Dad taught you to calm down. In and out. Easy._ He hadn't really lost his temper since grade school, and he wasn't about to start now.

_Especially when there's no_ reason _to be ticked off,_ Kenshin told himself firmly. _You're here, she's here, it's a lovely night..._

_It's a full moon. Damn it._

_Get back on track. Keep up._ "You breath life into it?" He gave Tomoe a smile back. "You must have a lot of life to go around."

"It can be found."

Kenshin backed off an inch. "Found? Life _is_." _Or is not. Ah, Yoda I am thinking of, yes._ Which, all of a sudden, was definitely where he'd rather be; stealing a bowl of popcorn back and forth with his brother while lightsabers clashed. _What's wrong with me?_

She scooted right back in. "And life feeds on life. Yes." Dark eyes warmed. "But you already knew that. I thought you might, when James told me about you... but I had to be sure."

_James told her- forget it, he's not here. And she is. Focus._ "You feed life to the park," Kenshin said carefully. _You feed_ lives _to the park? No, it can't be. It can't._

"It's the way of my people," Tomoe nodded. "Here, nature feeds me. I have to feed it, too."

"Ah... last I checked, your people were from San Francisco," Kenshin said delicately. _And if San Franciscan Japanese-Americans had ways like_ that, _I think somebody would have heard about it!_

"Not that people."

_Oh, I am_ so _out of here-_

"Just listen to me," Tomoe said softly. "I know you'll understand."

Kenshin forced a smile. "Of course I'm listening." _Stall. Whatever it is, stall._

"I don't really work for a florist."

_...Oh, I am_ so _stupid..._

"I work in Dr. Vesalius' clinic," Tomoe went on. "As one of the healers. We do good work. We bring people back to themselves." Brown eyes were steady on his. "I want you to be one of us, too."

"Bad idea," Kenshin said lightly. "Just ask-" _Don't mention Yahiko! Don't!_ "-any of my roommates. Horrible bedside manner. I wave tunafish under the nose of people down with the flu. That kind of thing."

"No, no, it's a good idea," she said patiently. "Don't you see? This way honor and duty are fulfilled, and we all get what we want. You. James. Me."

Kenshin had the sudden sense of stepping onto solid rock, only to see it vanish into draining sand. "What honor?" he floundered. "What does James have to do with this?"

"James' family and mine are allies. We have been for decades." Tomoe shrugged gracefully. "And you're a Himura. You owe James a life."

_"What?"_

"Don't you remember your mother?" Tomoe's smile flickered. "I saw a picture of her. Hard to believe anyone that full of life could hate us so much... she killed part of James' pack. Permanently. He couldn't do anything then; the Pox held him mindless. But we finally healed him. So he's paying back his debt to the clinic, by giving me the debt you owe." Her eyes warmed. "You'll love healing."

_You... want me to heal the people who killed my mother..._ None of this made sense. Kenshin tried to grab onto a fragment of sanity. "You don't own me!"

"Of course I do," she said in that calm, even voice, tracing her fingers across the back of his hand in an uncanny shimmer of green. "You're human."

And the world - came apart.

Everything slipped and slid; the sky itself bled, even as a green aurora wrapped Tomoe's skin like fire, draining life and breath from his body until he lay limp and helpless on cropped grass...

And _fury_ boiled up from a chasm in his soul.

_No one owns me!_

There were voices. Part of him recognized James, calling to Tomoe, who gave a silver laugh; but it was a small, lost part, battered by the boundless sea of rage.

They'd meant to hurt him. They _had_ hurt him.

He wouldn't let it happen anymore.

The bench screamed free of concrete, easy to whirl as the shop broom. Tomoe went down without even time to gasp.

In the slippery web-work that twisted the world, Kenshin saw Sureh's jaw drop. Spread empty hands. Start to back up, saying - something-

But a ghastly wolf-mask seemed to fade through Sureh's skin, and it was all Kenshin needed to see.

_Kill!_

Fast. The man was fast.

The man was _furry._

_Interesting problem..._

"-Killed her! Son of a _bitch!_" The fanged, sharp-nosed young man shook a furry fist at Kenshin. "You're supposed to be a damn _pacifist!_"

Resting the bloodied bench on the ground, Kenshin dropped to check the limp neck, never taking his eyes off his remaining enemy.

His fingers brushed back feather-woven hair, feeling at still-warm skin. No pulse. Good.

"You should be screaming," Sureh growled, clenching and unclenching his claws. "Why the _hell_ aren't you screaming?"

_Why should I, little prey?_ Kenshin's fingers dropped from throat to vest pocket, hidden by the twist of his body. _I_ want _you upset. I want you curious._

_I want you to come to me..._

Rage burned through his veins like a wave of acid. Kenshin rode it; focussed it, as he had everything in his life, on the ultimate goal. Not a grade. Not a sale. Not even the mix of pride and hurt that was weaving through one more conversational battle with his stepmother. Only one burning desire, that before now had only lurked in his nightmares.

_Death. Yours. Now._

"Hell with this." A dark nose stretched into a snout as the wolf-man slunk closer. "Carve you up enough to slow you down; we can heal you after you rise- hah!" Smirking, he dodged the steel arc of the bench.

Right into a face-full of pepper spray.

_Tomoe always did say she'd give a rapist the fight of his life..._

He grabbed a coughing, furry form, pulling it with a yank that should have dislocated his shoulders. But bones and tendons held, driven by unnatural fury, and he slammed his enemy's body to the ground. Again. And again. And again...

Blood was red and thick as cherry sauce on his hands.

_Pretty..._

He wiped it off on living green, admiring the contrast. Frowning, as a furred chest struggled to breathe.

_No. I won't let you. _

Insanity ruled the world, yes, but even that had its own rules. Strangulation didn't kill werewolves. The only thing that would was-

_Silver. But I don't have any._

And then again...

A chillingly calm smile touched his lips, as he scraped a dime over fur. Flesh and hair smoked.

_Ah. Now, where did Biology say the heart was again?_

Three scorching handfuls of change plundered from Tomoe's pockets later, fur finally stilled. Shrank back into skin, leaving only a twisted human form on the ground, smoke still rising from the hole between the third and fourth ribs.

Maybe he should do something to the other body, as well...

No. No, this was... wrong.

_But I like it-_

No! He had to stop, now - somehow-

Move. He had to move. He had to be... away from here. Anywhere away.

The world was slick and echoing as glass. It hurt. Things spun and jumped; he wanted to lash out at them, wanted to scream and snarl and kill-

But he wouldn't. Because more than anything else, he wanted the world to go away - and there was a place where it would...

"-Kenshin?" A door closing somewhere, and a sharp intake of breath. "Oh, shit..."

Quieter here. Not still, but quieter. Better. Just _one_ thing making noise, and he could stop it-

Choking gasps. Fists banging on his arm in terror.

_No! That's Yahiko! _

He leapt away, slamming into his brother's bed, fear and shame eating at him. But it wasn't enough to beat back the rage. Nothing was enough.

_I'll hurt him - no! I won't! Run, must run-_

"S-stay there!" Yahiko coughed, pulling something hard and wood and safe between them; a chair? He couldn't tell; the world was flickering in and out, melting with fury. "Just - stay over there..."

Stay here. While Yahiko was... over there. Yes. That was good. That might work...

The world cut out.

Kenshin blinked, and the world was back. Only... different.

_It's daylight._

He was lying on the floor of Yahiko's bedroom, sleeping bag tossed on top of him, and a throwrug tucked under his head. Something wet swiped over his hands, as a very angry, very _scared_ kid brother dumped yet another bloodied paper towel into a trash bag.

And he hurt like hell.

Yahiko saw him blink. Jumped back, sprawling on the floor. "Shit!"

"Dad's going to fine you quarters if you keep that up..."

"Kenshin?" Brown eyes went wide with relief. "You know where you are?"

"Home?" God, his throat was dry. "Did I... I _hurt_ you-"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Yahiko yanked up one of his damp, shredded shirt sleeves, then the other.

"What are you-?"

"You don't drink, you don't smoke - you don't _do_ dumb things!" the teenager said fiercely, glaring at scratched-up arms; small, healing rips, as if he'd tangled with a pack of Pomeranians. "No needle-marks. How the hell did you get hopped up on coke?"

"I... was drugged?" It made chilling, awful sense. Much more sense than green-glowing hands, and werewolves.

"Out of your damn skull," Yahiko bit out. "Just like Bad-ass Brown, only _you_ didn't have a gun-"

_"What?"_ Robert Brown was a perennial school bully who seemed to like going after Yahiko, yes, but a gun?

"You were in the middle of mid-terms. Mom and Dad didn't want to _worry_ you." His brother's eyes were all but shooting sparks. "So I guess _they_ don't need to worry about this. Yet. Did you know that bubble-brain Sarah called here looking for you? Said Tomoe and that creep James called club night off, and she didn't know if you'd heard. And I know you _didn't,_ 'cause if you did, you'd at _least_ have dropped by to help with the restocking before you headed out to the library. And then you come in at midnight like- like- damn it, _what happened?_"

"She gave me a soda," Kenshin said faintly. "Everything went crazy."

_And I think I killed her._

---------

"We just didn't know what to do after that," Yahiko finished. "I mean, I didn't think Kenshin would ever... but there was so much blood..." He shook his head. "He was my big brother, my _aniki,_ and he was so sick and scared. I _couldn't_ call the cops. Just as glad I didn't, now. 'Cause Tomoe must have dumped in LSD or something on top of the coke. She called the next damn night." He rolled his eyes. "That's when Kenshin stopped answering the phone."

"And then?" Sano asked neutrally.

_What do you mean, and then?_ Yahiko gave the agent an exasperated look. Maybe Sano was more understanding than your average adult about little things like not reporting an assault, but this was still weird. "He's an optimist. He's _not_ stupid. He didn't go see her again. Period. Didn't go anywhere he thought she might be looking. He just hid out at the apartment or the shop. Usually the shop," Yahiko muttered, thinking of too many nights leaving his brother behind on a lonely sleeping bag.

"That'd make sense," Sano said, half to himself. "Natasha and Uramura were saying something about a Ward there."

"What?" Yahiko scowled at his teacher, silently asking for some kind of explanation.

Kaoru was no help, teeth gripping her lower lip as blue eyes glazed in thought. Then sharpened again, skewing a sober look at Sano. "What kind of Kin was she?"

"Say _what?_"

"Inuit, sounds like," Sanosuke stated, ticking off on his fingers. "Green glow, wears feathers, Drains life-force, tends to go after new people to Infect on full moons. And even if the Infection doesn't take, Infected victims go complete and utter homicidal psycho." He shrugged. "Used to be regular Native American nature spirits, but they can take anybody human. You and your brother either have the best luck out there, or the worst."

"But..." Yahiko protested. _Not a hallucination? No way._ "There would have been a body!"

"There _was,_ kiddo. Talk of the Target Alpha water cooler. First time we'd seen a werewolf nickel and dimed with... well, nickels and dimes." Sano gave him a dark grin. "For a while there, we thought some new stake organization with a sadistic bent was going after Red Moonrise. And y'know, gee, we just _couldn't_ get broken up about that..."

Yahiko shook his head, denying what couldn't be true. "But Kenshin wouldn't _do_ that!"

"Knock the wax out of your ears, brat. Or did the words 'homicidal psycho' miss a turn somewhere?"

"But if that always happens when they Infect someone," Kaoru swallowed dryly, "why was she surprised?"

Sanosuke let out a slow breath. "Okay. I'm guessing here, but... sounds like she Drained Kenshin down to just barely able to walk. Which _should_ have kept him pretty quiet. Ordinary victims, when they get Infected, they just lose it. Like somebody taking the lid off and squirting in pure evil. They rant, they rave, they attack everybody in reach. And given Inuit can float like a butterfly-" his hand described a fluttering arc upward "-that's _not_ hard to dodge.

"Only _ordinary_ people aren't hitokiri. Sweet as he is, deep down, your brother's like 'Sai. And Battousai doesn't have a lid. He's got a _safety catch._"

"She took off the safety," Kaoru gulped.

"Pointed it at her face, and pulled the trigger," Sano shrugged. "Not Kenshin's fault she got an Uzi instead of a rubber-band gun." He smirked. "Damn! tBuku's going to have to pay up after all!" He rubbed his hands together. "Take that, Gensai!"

"Pay up?" Yahiko said darkly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, you don't know," Sanosuke nodded. "The guy you called Sureh? Lab IDed him when we hauled the body in. James Rip'n'Tear, one of the Red Moonrise rugs who tried to take out Lady Liberty about seven years back. We got a standing bounty on those guys. _Nice_ chunk of change."

"That's sick," Kaoru whispered.

Sano snapped his mouth shut. Gave her a hard look. Sighed, and looked away. "Kaoru. Kamiya-sensei. If some sons of bitches with paper on them tried to gang-rape one of your students, and she fought back, and won - would you tell her not to take the reward?"

"That's not the same thing!"

Sano canted a glance at her. "Why not?"

"I..."

"Think about it. _Before_ you talk to Kenshin." Sano rolled up his sleeves. "I got a clay statue to get under cover."

---------

_You'd think red hair would be easier to spot,_ Kaoru thought, tip-toeing across the roof toward the gesticulating swordsman. If she'd seen someone acting like that on the sidewalk, she would've given them a wide berth, convinced they were talking to monsters visible only in their own mind.

But this was Kenshin. Which meant the invisible was quite real.

_Twenty feet. Good place to stop._ "You planning to come down any time tonight, or should I just send Yahiko up to toss a sleeping bag over you?"

He started. Whirled, violet wide and panicked-

"Whoa. Whoa!" Kaoru held her hands out palm down, spread and calming. "I don't know who you're mad at, but I'm not them!"

"I'm... not mad..."

_More like terrified,_ Kaoru thought practically. _Even more dangerous._ "I'm not her, either."

"Her?" He tried to keep it bland, but dropped his head so red bangs hid his eyes.

_Good luck trying to lie, buster. I learned all your tells from Yahiko. Who's a way better liar than you on his worst day. Scary._ "You mean you _weren't_ thinking about your ex? Your brother is."

Kenshin started, and looked guilty. "I was having an argument about the dubious merits of arson applied to unlicensed medical facilities."

Kaoru tried not to grin at the sword. "So which of you wants to burn down the Vesalius clinic?"

"Ah..."

_Both of them, huh? Not good. Well, sort of not good,_ Kaoru thought wryly. _Don't get sad, get even._ "I bet Sano would help. Place full of Inuits, some of them maybe kidnapped into it... sounds like the kind of place Target Alpha keeps an eye on."

Violet widened. "You - you know?"

"Your brother's a pretty good witness," Kaoru nodded. "_You_ know?"

"Battousai and I just figured it out." Kenshin crossed his arms, hugging himself. "I thought I was hallucinating. That it couldn't have been real..." A faint, wry smile touched his face. "I guess... now I know why I didn't just freeze when C Spot went after me. I'd seen werewolves before..."

Kaoru meant to wait him out, but impatience bit. "So this 'we do good work' line. She was lying, right?"

"Yes," Kenshin said reluctantly. "And no. They do heal Pox Zombies. But to do it, they need a lot of life energy. Sometimes, they can find donors. But sometimes... they have this habit of kidnapping people to feed to their patients. Vesalius calls them 'lifestyle volunteers'. Drug dealers. Rapists. Prostitutes - well, not so many of those anymore. Battousai caught one of their Inuits who made a habit of Shunting from ladies of the night, temporarily killed him, and dumped him into a shipping container headed for Saudi Arabia."

"...Erk?"

"You can't kill an Inuit unless you destroy their power source; their area of nature," Kenshin explained. "But if you can keep them away from that place for over a month, they weaken. They don't _die,_ not unless something else kills them a lot more times - but I doubt that one will be back in New York any time soon. If ever."

Kaoru let out a slow breath. "So unless something burned down Pelham Bay Park..."

"If she was telling the truth about that," Kenshin noted. Shook his head slowly. "I wouldn't count on it."

"I'm not Tomoe," Kaoru said plainly. "I won't do that to you."

"But I almost did to you."

A chill shivered down her spine.

"I didn't know... before Sano walked in, I wasn't thinking-" Kenshin looked down, shoulders slumped and miserable. "I almost hurt you. I'm sorry."

_Yeah, you are. You're also stalling._ "What happened?" Kaoru asked practically. "What's got you so jumpy you're not listening to your own ears?" She gave it a second to sink in, then thrust home. "What can't you tell Sano?"

"It was like that night."

A whisper; she dropped her voice to match. "What was?"

"Leaving him to die."

Some of what she'd overheard from Sano settled into a new and terrifying shape. "You... left him?" _I thought he just wasn't fast enough. That they were overrun._

"Battousai did. I didn't have a choice." Kenshin paced the roof, looked out over the night. "In the Bakumatsu... prostitution was regulated. Taxed. Women had access to medical care. Legal rights. Maybe not many of them, but no place like that - that _hellhole_ would be allowed to exist." Claws clenched. "And as for anyone so lost to honor as to even _consider_ using the people there-" Kenshin shook his head. "I can see his point. But... even if that man was evil, he was still a human being. And I wanted to save him. I wanted to stop myself, and I couldn't... _again_..."

_What do I say? What can I say? _

But violet blinked before any words came, startled. "Oh."

Kaoru quirked a brow up, silent question.

"I think I just got an apology."

She raised the other brow.

Kenshin waggled a hand back and forth; _sort of_. "For the possession. He still thinks the man was scum."

_Yeah, that sounds about right,_ Kaoru thought wryly. "Are you okay?"

Kenshin started to say something, stopped. "No," he admitted.

"Do you want to come inside?" She drew her fingers through strands of black hair. "I wouldn't mind a little brushing. If you keep the fangs to yourself."

Silence.

"Kenshin." Kaoru glared at him. "Breathe."

Flushing pink, he looked away from her fingers. "I'd like that, Kaoru. Truly. But first, there's something I need to tell you..."

---------

Translations and info:

_Familiar_ - animal ritually bound to a Sorcerer or Witch, sharing mystical abilities and assisting in spells.

_Nickel and dimed_ - Kin killed by silver. Whatever the actual silver content of modern coinage might be, NightLife rules that it does affect lycanthropes.

_Paper_ - warrants.

_Rug_ - werewolf.

_Stake_ - hunter of Kin.


	9. Chapter 9

"You _lost_ her?" Kanryuu snarled.

"Temporarily misplaced."

_That can't possibly be a sense of humor,_ the businessman thought darkly, staring down his Ubo head of security. _The ring doesn't let him have one. Not at my expense._

But Shinomori didn't so much as flinch, even when Kanryuu played with the teak letter opener on his office desk. "We know where she is," the Okashira went on coolly. "We know who guards her. And we know they are strong and skilled enough to defend her from Virus." A fluid shrug. "A critical factor, given we are still rooting out infiltrators among the Beijings."

The thought sent a shudder down Kanryuu's spine; he, who hadn't feared anyone in years! He was too powerful to be threatened; too intelligent, delving into the modern world and the archaic powers of the Kin to combine them in ways neither side would have thought of alone. Ways that had gained him political power, money-making Spider's Web, and a modern, fully-equipped security force whose loyalty was mystically absolute.

And those metal monstrosities thought they would make him fear them? How _dare_ they! "How can you be certain you've found all the infiltrators?"

"Virus can feed on Kin, but Kin cannot feed on Virus," Shinomori said coolly. "Therefore-"

A gust of wind, and sharp pain pierced his neck.

Kanryuu struck out at the assault - only to touch air, as the Okashira blurred back to a stop on the other side of his desk. "You _bit_ me!"

"Your standing orders are to permit the Yakuza to believe the Oniwabanshuu still protect their interests in your operation," Shinomori said levelly. One drop of blood still clung to a fang, before he licked it away. "Their upper ranks will already be... upset... at the number of deaths Battousai has wreaked among the Infected Beijings, and the further fatalities we will have to inflict on any business they have touched. My onmitsu must be able to report that you have been cleared as well."

Touching the healing marks on his neck, Kanryuu saw red. To think _he_ ranked no higher in the bosses' estimation than a lowly street thug of a Beijing!

_Patience,_ the businessman told himself, with the same fierce drive that had brought him this far. _Soon you'll have what you need to build weapons not even Virus can stand against._ "The Kurogasa blade?"

"Located." Something dark moved in green eyes. "And we have acquired an unexpected asset in retrieving it."

"Oh, really?" Kanryuu smirked. Shinomori hadn't wanted to tell him that; he could see that in chill, emerald hate. Which suited Kanryuu just fine. His Okashira, his ring-bound slave, had _dared_ to raise a hand against him. For that, he would _pay._ "Do tell."

"A minor lab technician," the Okashira reported. "The operation will still require careful timing to ensure success, but access to security should be guaranteed."

"He or she?"

The Okashira stiffened.

_Oh, what glorious fun._ "He or she?" Kanryuu repeated, letting each word linger on his tongue to taste the pain in Shinomori's eyes.

"She."

_And you're trying to protect her?_ Kanryuu licked his lips. _Oh, this is fun._ "Bring her to me."

"That would be an unnecessary risk," the Okashira said dispassionately. "Currently Target Alpha has no reason to suspect she might be compromised. The odds of our success will drop drastically if she is... tampered with."

"The odds are _your_ problem. I said-"

"Not only would we lose a valuable source," Shinomori cut him off, "but the very level of her access would cause them to take drastic measures to secure the lab and its contents. Considering the difficulties Target Alpha had in securing the blade to start with, it would be the first item moved. Likely to the Washington headquarters, where we as yet have few resources and no inside agents."

Kanryuu chuckled, darkly pleased. "Very logical. As always." He tested the tip of sharpened teak with the pad of his finger, studying the Ubo through the edge of his glasses. "Well, if you can't bring me her... you'll just have to bring me someone who _looks_ like her, hmm?" He tilted his head. "Or like our dear Takani. I don't care which."

_Except that by which one you bring me, I'll know who your true weak point is. _

Inclining his head, the Okashira turned to go.

"Oh, and Aoshi? I will want you to discard the refuse afterwards." Kanryuu smiled. "You know how to clean a scene so well."

Pale fingers curled into fists, and the Ubo was gone.

_Oh, you truly_ do _hate me, don't you?_ Kanryuu laughed. _How pointless. I_ own _you._

His own deadly Kin, on a platinum leash. It was... thrilling.

_Bring the girl soon, Aoshi. I want to have some fun. _

Still, no matter how long it took, he could savor the knowledge that everything was going according to plan. Megumi wasn't here yet - but she would be. She would be.

"Oh yes," Kanryuu murmured, looking out at the darkness before dawn. "It's going to be a _beautiful_ day."

---------

_"Your standing orders are to permit the Yakuza to_ believe _the Oniwabanshuu still protect their interests in your operation..."_

Hidden in the shadows, Han'nya watched the Okashira stalk away from Kanryuu's office, through the corridors of what most would take as only an ordinary, tastefully lavish penthouse. Taut. Controlled.

Angry.

_It's not a show. _

Which made no sense. Whatever Shinomori might let Kanryuu believe, he knew where their loyalties truly lay.

As he knew that any of the Oniwabanshuu, given the chance, would have Drained Kanryuu in his stead, and so drawn their employer's rage away from Aoshi. Which would have been the proper thing to do; after all, the Okashira could simply assure Kanryuu that the errant Kin would be disciplined, then let the matter drop in private.

_Yet he avoids that path,_ Han'nya thought. _He always has. I believed it was only respect for us, that a true leader would not order what he would not do himself. He respects us, yes - but why did he feel that he, and he alone, should draw Kanryuu's wrath, rather than act as a proper onmitsu and lie that it was ever carried out?_

_Something is amiss. _

But now was not the time to determine what. Ghost-silent, the Animate appeared next to his leader. "One might suggest we hire an Immortal Beloved."

"What...?"

_That distracted, are you? The young one truly is the one you wish, then._ "A local Kin escort service," Han'nya explained. "They specialize in appearing human, no matter what their clients do. There are many men in this city who wish to inflict pain, or even near-death, without running a risk of being charged with a crime."

"I doubt it will be _near_ death," Aoshi bit out.

"That will cost extra," Han'nya nodded.

Silence, stunned and dreadful beside him.

"So long as he uses his body and not a Bane, it will not be permanent," Han'nya stated. "We will remove the corpse, and she will rise the next night. Well-paid for her trouble."

"Han'nya..."

"We all do as we must to survive," the Animate said bluntly. "There are far worse fates than being onmitsu of the Oniwabanshuu, my leader. You have seen this yourself."

"Yes." Aoshi winced.

"One might further suggest that we select one of their women who looks nothing like Misao," Han'nya went on, carefully casual. "After all, our employer hires us to attend to his security - and there is no reason to expose any part of our plans so needlessly, merely to sate his desire for pain." _And to imagine your own beloved under Kanryuu's fists - that I will not do to you._

"How much did you hear?"

Danger shrilled warning along the Animate's nerves. He listened to it. "Our employer's... request."

"Good." Violet and platinum twisted.

Behind the mask, Han'nya went cold. _He would have struck. He truly would have._

The Okashira, not Aoshi. Which was unnerving, given that Han'nya had always felt it was the remaining elements of the mortal personality that were least trustworthy. After all, was it not mortal fear that had cut their leader off from his own human kin?

_The same mortal fear that drew him to take Kanryuu's punishment, instead of us?_

It _felt_ right. Yet it didn't make sense.

"So you believe this Battousai is an Elder Kin from Kyoto."

"I believe he is the Demon of Kyoto, yes; the Cement Dragon rarely lies," Han'nya accepted the change of subject, mind racing.

"It lied about stopping him," the Okashira pointed out.

"It said no assassin would strike," Han'nya said wryly. "There was plenty of killing, but no assassination."

Aoshi smiled thinly.

"Himura Kenshin, it named him - and among those who knew in the Bakumatsu, it was whispered Choushuu called him _Himura_ Battousai." Han'nya frowned. "Yet at times, he seemed young."

"Seemed?"

"An intuition." Of the same sort that had whispered Aoshi might well strike him down to hide something he should not have overheard. "I cannot explain it. Yet." The Animate bowed. "I will seek further."

"Han'nya."

A heartbeat from vanishing, the Animate stopped. "Okashira?"

"If he is young... is he still dangerous enough to kill me?"

Han'nya hesitated. "If he were fresh, and unwounded... he might be, Okashira. He might well be."

"Hmm." A faint shadow of a smile crossed Aoshi's face. "Interesting."

_Your nature has haunted you long enough!_ "You will not harm Misao-san, Okashira. No more than you would harm any of us."

"Han'nya, what-"

"You are _Okashira,_" Han'nya said deliberately. "Leader of the Oniwabanshuu. _She_ is Oniwabanshuu. You will _not_ harm her."

Deadly silence. "She is," Aoshi said at last, "only a technician. You will tell no one otherwise."

_This goes beyond fear,_ Han'nya realized. "Who threatens her life?"

Emerald was chill and deadly as knives of ice. "Learn who this Himura Kenshin is. I will know the nature of our enemies...

"And then we will see who is destroyed."

---------

"What do you mean, crime scene?" Yahiko Himura's voice carried all the way to the back room of _Wonderful Things._ "What the hell happened _this_ time?"

"Yahiko..."

"Yeah, yeah... sorry, Officer..."

"Ah." Detective Alexandrea Eames grinned at her partner. "Our two comedians are here." She waved at the bloody spot currently being picked over by the Crime Scene Unit. "I can't wait to see what they have for a punch line."

Gloves still on, Detective Bobby Goren rose from his knees. "Split them up?"

"Oh, yeah." Alex shook her head. "Not that I think it'll do much good."

"They're tight," Bobby nodded. "You want Kenshin?"

"He does get nervous around ladies, doesn't he?" Alex nodded. "You going to be the sympathetic ear for the kid?"

"Might work." He fell into step behind her, heading for the front and the yellow tape. "And then again... ah, Mr. Himura. Do you mind if I have a word with your brother?"

"You two?" Yahiko growled. "Again?"

_"Maa, maa."_ Kenshin gripped the teen's shoulder lightly, trying to peer past officers into the main body of the shop. "I doubt you're here over just a burglary."

"Well, my partner can tell you about that... Yahiko, would you mind...?"

Brown met violet; the redhead nodded slightly. "I'll be fine," he said softly.

Still grumbling under his breath, Yahiko stomped after Bobby.

Alex gave Kenshin a look.

Mild as milk, violet blinked back.

_Right. Out-waiting Himura just_ doesn't _work._ "I don't suppose you can tell us where you were last night?" Alex asked dryly.

"Home," Kenshin shrugged. "We're closed Sundays. I was home, with Yahiko; we had dinner with Ms. Kamiya, Mr. Sagara, and Ms. Takani. Well, after I picked her up."

"Picked her up?" _If Bobby's right, you had her in protective custody; you wouldn't have let her just walk out on the streets! Sagara's crazy, not stupid._

"Yes..." Kenshin ducked his head sheepishly. "One of Ms. Takani's old acquaintances dropped in on us rather suddenly, and invited her on a trip to Chinatown. She truly did not feel as if she could say no."

_Is he saying... oh, hell. _

"But it was dark, and she really didn't want to try and get back home alone, so she got in touch with me. We took the cross-town bus back. I can probably even tell you the number." He gave her a bright, innocent smile.

_Oh, that's just not fair..._ Taking out a notebook, the detective quizzed him on specifics; time, bus, street, and so on. Not that she thought she would actually catch him in a lie. The man had obviously practiced his story until he had it cold.

Or - it wasn't a story.

_He sounds like he's telling the truth,_ Alex thought grudgingly. _Just not all of it._

So if Bobby was right, and Megumi Takani had turned witness against Kanryuu - sounded like _somebody_ had tried to convince her otherwise.

_And_ you _stopped them?_ Alex couldn't hold a flicker of skepticism out of her gaze. _Who do you think you are, Cordell Walker?_

Of course, Texas Rangers didn't carry katana.

_And neither is he. Right now. I think._

That thought made Alex pause and reflect, giving the supposed shopkeeper a quick once-over. Loose red shirt, off-white slacks, sandals... nowhere to hide a sword. Apparently.

_Forget Cordell Walker. He'd have to be David Copperfield._ "I don't see Ms. Takani here."

"She's probably still asleep," Kenshin admitted. "She truly looked exhausted last night. I think she's had a very bad few years, that she has." Red hair tilted, ponytail swishing along his shoulder. "What happened to my shop? I can see things fallen, breakage... yet it doesn't look from here as though anything was taken."

"No, nothing important," Alex said casually. "Just a man's life."

Violet widened, inexpressibly sad. "Oh, no." His hands spread, questioning. "Who?"

Alex gave him a tight smile. "I was kind of hoping you'd tell me."

Kenshin almost spoke, sighed, and shook his head. "I was _not here,_ Detective Eames. I can't tell you what I don't know."

Two true statements that did not necessarily add up to, _I don't know what happened._ Alex stared at him.

Unrepentant, the redhead stared back.

_He is a redhead,_ Alex realized, taking in the hint of freckle on pale skin, the fine red-gold of eyebrows. _DMV photo swore he was a brunet._

_Face is the same. Eyes are the same. Sagara, Kamiya, even Yahiko - they swear that_ is _Himura._

_But he's different._

"How did he die?"

The quiet question snapped her back to here and now. Alex almost frowned at Kenshin - but didn't, mostly because she wanted to stomp something so badly. DEA wasn't NYPD, but a cop was a cop. "The investigation's still ongoing."

"Of course." He inclined his head, accepting her right to say that. "But - was it here? It looks as though there was a struggle..."

A sense of impish humor ambushed her. "Actually, looks like most of your stuff was shaken down by the explosions."

"Explosions?" Kenshin repeated numbly. _"Kuso."_

A wicked grin snuck onto her face. "Wait 'til you see what they did to your door."

"My door?" Violet widened. "Oh no. Don't tell me..."

Still grinning, Alex led him under the tape; not near enough the bloodstain to contaminate the scene, but close enough to see bright sunlight streaming through where the lock should have been.

"Nnrgghhh..."

Fascinated, Alex watched fingers flex and clench, trying _so_ hard not to bite into anything breakable. _Houston, we may have hit the man's limit._

A hiss of exhaled breath, and Kenshin bent his head, red bangs hiding his eyes. "I just replaced that lock."

"I figured," Alex nodded, intrigued by the utter _stillness_ in that level voice. _Like the last snowflake drifting down, just before the whole mountain lets go._

"This really. Isn't. _Fair._"

_Any second now..._

Red shoulders slumped, and Kenshin sighed. "Is there any other way we can help your investigation, Detective Eames?"

_...Fizzle?_ Alex took a half-step back, suddenly more wary than she would have been if he'd started screaming about how he was going to throttle Sagara and anybody connected with the DEA. Hair-trigger tempers were dangerous until you got them in handcuffs. People who could _rein in_ what should have been a firecracker of fury - they were dangerous, period.

_Interesting. Like the Chinese curse._ "Exactly how are you tied in to the DEA, anyway?"

"Er... well..."

"Agent on probation, at the moment," a light British accent spoke up.

Alex jerked her head toward the slim young blonde who'd appeared almost out of nowhere, vaguely noting that Kenshin hadn't turned so much as a hair. _He heard her coming? I didn't hear anything!_ "And you are?"

"Agent Natasha Falconi, Detective Eames." Tight leather jacket and black dog-collar notwithstanding, the blonde had a firm handshake and a sober demeanor. "I'm sorry it took us this long to get back to you, but, well, things got rather pear-shaped at the office... our own investigation is ongoing at the moment. Still-" she nodded toward the front of the store, where a grim Japanese man in suit and glasses was making his way under the tape "-Agent Uramura can fill you in on what truly happened last night."

---------

"So your brother just brought Ms. Takani back home on the bus?"

Yahiko rolled his eyes, leaning back against a small bare spot of wall. Weird; even with cops scattered through the place, the shop felt safer than it had since werewolves had burned out their old apartment. "For the sixth time... yeah."

"Fourth time, actually," Detective Goren observed. "And it just seems a little... odd. That she'd go off with these... people she knew... and then need a ride home." The tall detective smiled at him.

_Not going to bite his ankles. Not gonna._ "How am I supposed to know? Grownups do crazy things."

A slow nod. "And does your brother do - crazy things?"

_What, you mean like picking up talking swords, biting people's necks, and getting mixed up to his eyeballs in Kin bad guys?_ "Kenshin? You gotta be kidding me." Yahiko kicked at a stray scrap of cardboard, not looking forward to the clean-up they'd have to do later. _Does every Kin in the neighborhood have to try and wreck our place?_ "If he were any more straitlaced, he'd be a f- a damn _corset._"

"Sounds like that could be tough to live with."

"Eh..." Yahiko shrugged, still scowling. "I dunno. I mean, he was pretty clingy after the funeral, you know? Made me so mad - I'm old enough to take care of _myself,_ damn it-" He shook off the spurt of temper. "He misses Dad. Me, too."

"Not your mom?"

Yahiko winced. "He and Mom... they tried to stay out of each other's way. What's on the grocery list, how's your grades, that kind of thing." He gave the detective a glare, annoyed when it just seemed to roll off. "What's that got to do with somebody busting into our place, anyway?"

"Honestly?" Goren looked around, as if to make sure no one was listening too closely. "I just like to know how people think."

Yahiko gave him a hard look, and shook his head. "You're _weird._"

"Yeah... yeah, I guess I am." Goren shrugged. "But then, I've pulled the report on your brother's mother. It's pretty... well. I've seen a lot of homicides, but that one was bad. I can see how he might feel like people could die on him if he doesn't do something drastic."

"Kenshin's not really a drastic kind of guy," Yahiko said wryly. "Not unless you count dumping tunafish on top of sliced apples." _Or ripping up park benches to take out Inuits._

"I dunno," Goren echoed his words. "Taking off after a guy who kidnapped Ms. Kamiya with a sword - sounds pretty drastic to me."

"Ah... um..." _Think, think, think! Got to be something you can do. Something you can say._ "Kenshin!" Yahiko scowled at the blonde following his brother. "Who's _she?_"

"Agent Falconi," she nodded crisply as Kenshin moved in to knead Yahiko's shoulder. "Detective Goren. Good to meet you. I've heard many good things about the Major Case Squad, yourself and Detective Eames in particular. Speaking of which," Falconi glanced toward the back of the store, "I believe your partner wishes you present while she interviews Agent Uramura. Something about a few questions you had in regard to charge placement specifics?"

:_She's a Sorceress, cub,_: Battousai's chill thoughts trickled into his own. :_You were mostly asleep the last time you met her... Natasha Falconi, ENO Liaison Officer for Target Alpha's New York division. An ally, for now - but be wary._:

_Detective - tried not to tell him anything - too many questions, he makes my head feel all screwy-_

:_It's_ all right, _Yahiko-chan. We're here now._:

Yahiko's fists clenched. _Don't call me -chan!_

:_Yahiko-kun._: The chill wrapped about his anger, soothing it. :_Easy. Easy, cub. Only keep your head, and keep your temper, and there is_ nothing _this man can do to you. Or to us._:

_But he's a cop!_

A snowfall of silent laughter. :_And it seems your brother is as well. You should hear the language he's using about that-_:

:_Don't you dare!_: A rush of warmth came with Kenshin's thought. :_I know Sano put me down on Target Alpha's books, yes, but to make it_ official-:

:_Much as he might enjoy not having to break in a new agent as partner, I doubt it was his idea,_: Battousai noted. :_Something's amiss._:

"Like what?" Yahiko blurted. And flushed, seeing Natasha's interested look.

The Sorceress glanced back to make sure Detective Goren had walked out of earshot, then waved them toward the front door. "I take it the three of you were having a bit of conversation?" Green eyes rested on Kenshin as they slipped past one of the stray uniformed officers. "I wasn't aware telepathy rested within Battousai's capabilities."

"_I_ didn't know you made my brother an _agent,_" Yahiko shot back as they made it out onto the sidewalk. For all it was summer, he felt distinctly chillier out here. "Isn't there some kind of a law against that?"

"Given we often have to employ those who have no legal standing whatsoever, our allowed recruiting standards can be... flexible," Natasha shrugged. "And it seemed the best way to hold the Wards intact."

Kenshin gave her a steady look, then stepped back to lay his fingers along the side of the front doorway. Kept them there for a long moment, as if testing an oven's heat, then stepped back with a smile that mingled wonder and relief. "That's it. That's what's been missing."

"What is?" Yahiko demanded.

Clawed fingers interwove with his, raised his hand to feel the air. "Look."

A faint silvery shimmer seemed to filter through the morning, brightening some areas, leaving others dark and chill. Yet it was less sight than feeling; a sense of _what things were,_ of friend or foe or slumbering forces best left undisturbed.

And that sense felt power veiling _Wonderful Things_ like adamantine; no danger to those merely passing through, but crushing disaster to any who approached with ill intent. "Holy..."

"It's always been safe here," Kenshin said softly. "I felt that the first day I walked through the door. That's why I hid here so much this last year, I knew she couldn't find me-" He cut himself off.

"Yukishiro?" Natasha arched a blonde brow.

"Sano," Kenshin growled.

"I wouldn't be so quick to blame your partner for informing us about a potential stalker, Himura," the Sorceress said dryly. "There aren't that many Inuits in Red Moonrise. Most tend to be too humane to aid man-eating Kin who want to terrorize the Herd until it submits. The Yukishiros are rather infamous exceptions." She tilted her head. "Did you know the Wards were down?"

Reluctantly, Kenshin shook his head. "Things seemed... different after I brought Battousai home. But everything was different."

"Whoa, whoa, back up!" Yahiko waved his hands. "Are you saying this place is supposed to be _safe?_"

"It certainly was last night," Natasha nodded, green eyes distant. "After I used Rachel's blood to reactivate the Wards. I doubt we'd have lived if I hadn't..." She chafed her arms, as if sunlight chilled them. "When a brave man - or woman - sheds blood in defense of what is right, he has won that earth as his forever. Something a friend of a friend said once. A friend of Golgotha's... he called Harvey last night, you know," she said to Kenshin. "And Harvey told me, once we had the Virus - cleaned up. We'd suspected something of the sort, once we started looking into the history here; this place has always been _too_ quiet, given how many Kin and Witches patronize it. As if something were keeping it neutral... So we woke DuBuccio far earlier than he would have liked this morning, and he put you on the payroll. It should hold the Wards up. For now."

"Who did we lose?" Kenshin said gently.

"Nez. Oh, gods..." Natasha scrubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I can't cry," she said numbly. "Not here. Not in front of these people. I can't. I won't."

Kenshin nodded. "How does being an agent hold the Wards?"

Natasha drew in a shuddering breath, taking the offered refuge of practical matters. "DuBuccio's human. As an agent, he's your boss. Kin don't technically have the right to own property if the agency says otherwise - so as long as you work for us, DuBuccio has a magical claim to this place. And according to Golgotha, _Wonderful Things_ has _always_ been owned by a human. It's a loose interpretation, yes, but it should keep the Wards active. At least as well as Rachel's blood did."

"You're telling me this - this wall," Yahiko fumbled for words, "only stays up if a human owns the place?"

"Insofar as we can determine, yes." Natasha rubbed at her eyes again. "At least, until whatever's powering it fails. And we don't _know_ what's powering it; no coven has ever been connected with this place-"

"Megumi's," Kenshin murmured.

The Sorceress stared. "What?"

"The Root Magic under Zip," Kenshin explained. "The one you've buried now, though if Megumi is right, there are other anchors scattered near here... I knew the sense of it, the feel of it. As if I had seen it before. Yet Battousai had not. It feels as Megumi feels; Sano can attest to it. And Megumi's coven, a hidden coven that avoided the New York Clave - they are gone. Killed by Kanryuu... or absorbed by Virus." A red brow lifted. "Who seems to be using them to work magic of its own."

Natasha started, then snorted with laughter. "Precisely how hard did the Cement Dragon throw you through that roof?"

"I saw it."

"I'm certain you saw _something,_ Himura," the Sorceress said with measured patience. "But truly, examine it from a logical perspective; as we know Virus _is_ logical. If it had access to magic, why would it not use that power against our team, instead of merely throwing bodies against us until our reinforcements arrived?"

"It would not," the redhead said, chill and precise, "if _you_ were the distraction, Natasha-san."

_Battousai,_ Yahiko knew, shivering and relieved at the same time. _But - if killing people_ here _was a distraction-_

"It is Megumi-dono who was the true target."

Natasha gave a harsh bark of laughter, then shook her head, knuckles clenching white as her hands opened and closed, as if they wished to wrap around a convenient neck. "Your attempts at humor leave a great deal to be desired, sword of darkness."

"Natasha-san-"

_"Be. Quiet."_

Beneath red bangs, amber flickered.

"An agent of Target Alpha _died_ here last night," the Sorceress hissed. "He risked his life to protect humans, as we all do, and he died for it! You - oh, I've learned _your_ history, assassin! _Kenshin_ may be a good and honorable man, as Joseph was; but all _you_ care about is a body to kill with!"

"Falconi-san-"

"Don't." Sparks seemed to dance about her fingers; Natasha straightened them with an effort. "If Sagara says you killed a few Virus, I'll believe that. If he says Kanryuu's own men offered you a truce so they could handle their own problems with the damned monstrosities, I'll believe _that._ But if you think Virus was after a drug-dealing _whore_ of a Witch instead of us, you've lost what little excuse for a mind you had."

Yahiko saw red. "Don't you _dare_ say that about my-"

A clawed hand held him in place, iron-strong. "You are frightened," Battousai said, in a voice like night wind. "Your soul is in pain. But neither of those are reason to ignore _fact,_ Falconi-san. And the facts we know, state that Virus does not _care_ if its targets are human or Kin, murderer or innocent. All are merely prey. It has a plan; that plan requires access to the magic that supports this Ward. Access it can gain by way of the pool's own anchors, or by the body and blood of a coven member through which living magic still flows. Such as Megumi." Amber narrowed. "And if you refer to her in such terms again, Falconi-san, I may, for one moment, forget that we are allies. And I think Kenshin would not struggle to stop me." His voice dropped, near a whisper. "_Aa,_ I think that he would not."

"You will not threaten me," Natasha hissed.

"I do not make threats, Natasha-san." Amber burned clear and steady. "I never have."

A half-step back, a blink - and Kenshin shook his head. "Megumi is in danger, Ms. Falconi. Please. Believe that, if nothing else."

Deliberately, the Sorceress unclenched her jaw. "You're a sweet young man, Himura. And you seem to be adapting well to life on our side of the night. But that blade wants nothing but death."

"Powers behind the government of Meiji thought as you did," Kenshin said levelly. "They were wrong."

"You're a baby, Kenshin," Natasha said bluntly. "Stay with Sagara. Keep him out of trouble. Guard this Takani if you want; if nothing else, one of Kanryuu's pushers might be able to give us a lead on where the damn Spider's Web is made, now that we know it _is_ Kanryuu who's producing it. Just don't get Sagara _killed_ doing it. He may only have a few years in, but he's good - and he's human. Which makes him worth a lot more to the agency than someone like _you._" Turning on her booted heel, she stalked off.

"That- that-" Shaking, Yahiko couldn't get out the words.

"Let it go," Kenshin said quietly.

"But-"

"She told the truth as she saw it, Yahiko-kun. She knew Joseph Ward. Who could not allow Battousai to share as I do - and who chose to use the blade to kill Kin. Natasha hates that killing... and so she hates herself. For though Target Alpha may say otherwise, she knows she _is_ Kin, and so should be as loathed by them as we." Claws kneaded his shoulder through his t-shirt. "You know who I am. Who Battousai is. Let it go."

"Don't you dare make me go all muzzy out here," Yahiko groused. "Oh, damn it, Kenshin, can't you see what they're gonna do? They're going to-" He couldn't say it. He couldn't.

_We've lost our parents. Our home. Part of our lives. We can't lose_ Wonderful Things _too!_

"They'll try; that they will." There was an odd, steely note in Kenshin's voice; like the day after the funeral, when Kenshin had sat him down and told him they would _make_ things work. Somehow.

"They'll try," Kenshin said again, more quietly. "We'll be ready."

Yahiko shrugged, and managed a sarcastic snort. "Doesn't know as much as she thinks, does she? Megumi's not a-"

"No," Kenshin agreed quickly. "I do wonder what Sano _did_ put in his report; that I do." A last touch to his shoulder, and the redhead beckoned. "The detectives will be busy here at least another hour, from the look of them. Come on."

"Where are we going?" Yahiko asked suspiciously.

Eyeing the roof-tattered sleeve of his gi, Kenshin sighed. "Shopping."

---------

"Green, huh?" Tyler Darrow said warily, eyeing the silken cravat spilling like an orange-spangled and neon green waterfall over Lanterne's hands. Even if he'd been utterly colorblind, there was no way to miss that bright mischief in his fellow Crowley's eyes. "I don't know. I think I could go for something a little less... eye-catching." _Given that unlike_ some _of the people I've met, I don't want to be dragging real eyeballs over the dance floor._ "Samantha's going to be up on stage, after all, and I think it'd just be better to blend into the crowd some."

"Blend?" Lanterne clicked her tongue, Adam's apple bobbing as she sighed; six-foot-three of coffee-hued, statuesque brunette with gold eye-shadow, copper lipstick, and who-knew-what under a loose tiger-print blouse and tight black leather pants. The manager of _Lizardskin and Lace_ considered gender conventions the way Hell's Angels considered speed limits; the very idea that they might apply was laughable. "But honey, that's so _boring._"

"Blue," Tyler said hastily, trying to back up without looking like he was backing up. "Maybe blue... and more of a scarf, sort of, maybe..."

"Aviator look? Retro. Classy." Lanterne's eyes glazed, evidently picturing that look in the mass of light and sound and darkness that was Club AfterDark's weekend scene. "Oh, this could be so in - Darrow? Where'd you go? Huh." She waved a fist. "You know you're just going to have to come back to the counter to ring up." Swishing her hips, she stalked off in search of another fashion victim.

Letting out a relieved breath, Tyler perched under the ring-shaped jeans rack and considered his next move. _Darn Kin obsession with current style. I'm not looking to Cheek anybody, I don't have to be on the cutting edge... of course, if I'm too far off, I stick out like a sore thumb, and then things can get ugly with some of the hotheads._ He sighed. _This is what comes of dating one of your former sources._

Not that he regretted it. Samantha X was one of the best things that had happened to him since his divorce. And she brought necking to whole new levels. But every once in a while, usually when he least expected it, the weirdness of the whole situation came back and bit him in the ankle.

_I can't tell my own son who I'm really dating. Forget the closet; I'm stuck in the coffin. _

Ah well. Back to finding a club outfit that wouldn't get him arrested for indecent color coordination. He crabbed his way out from under ragged denim-

"Oof!"

Rubbing his head as he straightened, Tyler looked down, and blinked. _Spiky brown hair, mostly Japanese, maybe thirteen, carrying... a colored Aikido outfit? No, wait; that's something out of the historical part of the store, where Lanterne stocks stuff for people who want a taste of how life used to be, and Kin who want some of how their life_ was. _Weird. And why do I get the feeling I know this kid?_

"Watch where you're going, you big-" The teenager stopped, frown turning to eager surprise. "Hey! Are you- no way, you can't be, but you look just like the picture inside _Coming Home to Darkness_-"

"Guilty," Tyler admitted. Must have been one of the reprints; before his book had hit the bestseller list, no publisher would have put a then-reporter's face in the back of a horror book. "Tyler Darrow." He offered a hand, shook the eager grip. "And you are?"

"Huh? Oh. Wow. The one day I wish I _was_ carrying a book- ah. Yahiko. Himura. And it was great, even though I think they really cut out some of the good stuff when they made it for TV, but - you probably get that a lot... are you okay?"

"Heh. Low blood sugar. Too much coffee. One of those mornings." _Aah, help! Help, help, help! Scary guy's little brother is a horror fan! Run awaaay!_ "Well, it was nice meeting you, really-" He turned - and almost ran right over an armload of clothing topped by red hair.

Violet blinked up at him. Arched a red brow.

"Eep?" Tyler managed. _Aaah! Sword! Claws! Aikido outfit!_ Outfit that looked like it'd lost a wrestling match with a demented washing machine, but that was beside the point. _Why isn't anybody else_ screaming?

"One has to wonder," Kenshin said wryly, shifting the bundles of blue, gray, and scarlet to one arm, "exactly what did Golgotha tell you about me?"

"Er... ah..." _Think fast!_ "You, ah, saw me?"

"It's difficult to miss a hardcore band, even when they're not playing." If possible, the red brow climbed higher. "I do _not_ eat people, Darrow-san. Even if they do write books that keep a certain young man who should know better up until three in the morning, convinced Bloody Bones will materialize through the gateway into inter-dimensional hells defined by the shadows under a bed."

"Hey!" Yahiko stomped a foot. "It was only two in the morning!"

Kenshin gave him a look.

"Okay, okay... maybe two-thirty, sheesh..."

"You-" _Get a grip, Tyler. Remember what Golgotha said? Honorable. If he were here for you, he'd have told you by now._ "Tyler Darrow," he offered, holding out an uncertain hand. Felt it taken, just as warily, barely a pine-needle prickle of claws to hint the smaller hand wasn't human. "And you're Kenshin Himura... and from what I've heard, that kind of illegal thing you're carrying would be Battousai." Tyler glanced at the black sheath. "Mind my asking how you're doing that?"

"Jedi mind trick," Yahiko grinned.

"It is not," Kenshin said, stunned.

"It has a strong influence on the weak-minded," the teen intoned, waving his hands. "What else would you call it?"

"Oro..."

_Um. They're not scared of each other? That's - ah - wow..._ "You're telling me other people aren't seeing what I'm seeing?" Tyler ventured. Part of him might still want to run screaming, but the part that had been a reporter was absolutely fascinated. He'd heard there were Kin out there good at illusions, but he'd never really had the chance to talk to one. "So what are they seeing?"

"That can differ," Kenshin admitted. "It is... well, in essence, Yahiko is correct-"

"Hah! Gotcha!"

"It is an influence on the mind, much as Rakshasa use," Kenshin went on, leaning his pile of clothes lightly against the ring rack as he thought out loud. "Only where they choose a specific illusion of human form to project, Battousai only uses an impression: _I am harmless._" Mischief gleamed in violet. "One's own mind does all the rest."

_Harmless?_ Tyler thought, incredulous. _A_ possessing sword _says "I'm harmless"?_

But given people _weren't_ running screaming...

"And a harmless guy doesn't have claws," Tyler said thoughtfully.

Kenshin nodded.

"Or a sword."

A second nod.

"Or..." Tyler gave the tattered Kin another quick once-over, "maybe even, doesn't wear anything as weird as an Aikido outfit?"

"That one doesn't work around kendo people," Yahiko grinned. "Maekawa-sensei's gonna get you up in front of the class sometime. Bet on it."

"Not for another week, I hope," Kenshin muttered. "I need more time to learn how to slow down. The students, yes, a spar with them would be possible; yet like Kaoru, Maekawa is good enough that Battousai may react without thinking. I don't think we'd hurt him - but I'd prefer not to risk it, that I would." The red head tilted. "You're surprised."

"Yes and no," the writer admitted. _Am I that obvious? Thought being around Kin had taught me to keep a poker face better than that... no, wait. Golgotha said the blades read ki. Life-force. Aura. Emotions. I could be behind a brick wall and he'd know what I was feeling._ "That... kind of fits with what Golgotha told me about you. Or at least," Tyler wet his lips, and put his finger on the point that had bothered him, "about Battousai."

"We're not quite the same, no," Kenshin smiled wryly. "Though most seem not to believe that."

"Hey, Golgotha says it took him years to figure out you might not be an ordinary Muramasa blade. They have a nasty rep," Tyler shrugged. "Part of what made it such a killer plot bunny-" _Oh, no. Earth, open up and swallow me now._

"You mean you-" Yahiko made a strangled noise.

"Ah... well... _Blood Soup_ kind of burned me out on the whole slow-horror, Gypsy curse idea," Tyler admitted. "I really felt like writing something different - like maybe a slasher-maniac type villain, hacking his way through three hundred pages. Only my editor warned me no matter how burned out I was feeling, people were going to want slow spots in with the violence. So I thought, if I could get a little history in, that gave a good reason for the blood and gore... I asked Golgotha if he knew anything good. He spun me out a bit on the whole cursed swords deal." Tyler shrugged helplessly. "I didn't actually _know_ there were any here in New York, until last night. Which I guess is kind of silly. _Everything's_ here in New York, somewhere." _I am so dead._

Red bangs lowered. Tyler tensed-

A quiet laugh shook free of the small frame. Amber eyes lifted. "So I'm a villain in your book, then, Darrow-san?" Fangs glinted in a ghost of a smile. "Some things never do change."

"You've been written about before?" Tyler blurted. "Where? How can I find it? I-" Reality broke through a writer's obsession with new and fascinating information, and he fought not to step back. "You're..."

"_Aa,_ that I am. For a time." Battousai regarded him with cool amusement. "Even if you found a Kin to translate the Japanese for you, Darrow-san, I doubt much of those works remain. The wanted posters were likely destroyed with the Shogunate that issued them - and the new government went to great lengths to remove all trace of the shadows they once called the guardians of Chaos." Amber burned chill. "Great lengths, indeed. I doubt they persist in the pursuit even today, my hosts would surely have met their forces before were that the case... but to delve into those times is to court great risk. And not only from Kin."

It was as if the walls fell away in a cold wind, modern New York shimmering into the gray rain of Kyoto's stone streets. The hope and hate that seemed to linger among store shelves changed, transmuting from the endless struggle to join the right clique and one-up one's fellow man to an even more desperate fight to ally with whatever faction might allow one to simply survive. Faint sounds of store fans and street noise blurred into a distant clash of swords, the groans of the dying...

Tyler swiped at his cheek, surprised when fingers came away damp with sweat rather than blood. "How did you do that?"

"Nothing cuts keener than memory." Amber narrowed. "Listen to your fears, Darrow-san. They may keep you alive."

A slight shift of posture, a shake of red hair - and violet looked up at him. "He gets like that," Kenshin said wryly. "Too much Zen, I think." He bowed slightly. "Good day-"

"Wait a sec!" Tyler blurted. _Think fast, think fast - teenage kid. Of course._ "Have you had lunch?"

---------

The world filtered back in with a _thump_ of hair dropped back against her neck. Megumi held her eyes closed a moment longer, trying to place where in Kanryuu's many labs and safehouses she'd ever encountered giggles, the scent of hot cheddar, and a suspicious lumpiness to her long black locks...

Not to mention the buzz and click of a digital camera. "Cheese!" two young voices chorused.

"You two need to work on your timing," Sano chuckled, near where the sound of the camera-snap had been. "Man, nobody's going to believe this one without proof." _Buzz-click._ "Who'd have thought Goth leather could go grade-school?"

Megumi tried not to blink. _What?_

"Does Megumi-san get a sandwich if she's not awake?" the older of the youngsters wondered.

"Hmm. Good question, Ayame." The wicked grin vibrated in Sano's voice. "Why don't you ask her?"

"Silly!" the younger spoke up. "Sleeping people can't say yes!"

"Oh yeah, right. Guess you got me there, Suzume. We'll just have to - eat them anyway!"

Megumi sat straight up on the couch, doing her best Bride of Dracula impression. "Saaandwich," she intoned.

"Eek!"

There was a scattering of little feet; Megumi glimpsed a pair of tiny brunettes squirming to hide behind one camera-bearing rooster-head, who was trying - and failing - to keep a straight face. "It's alive, alive!" Sano chortled.

"And it must feed," Megumi said huskily, swinging her legs off the cushions to feel the floor under her socks. Swinging her head in a properly predatory manner-

_Thump. Swish. Thump._

"What the-?" Megumi held up an unexpected braid, woven through with - pink ribbons?

Pink in one. White in another. Rainbow-shimmery with clear plastic beads in yet another.

_And he took pictures? I'll kill him!_

Shy and quiet, two small, brown-eyed girls peeked from behind Sano's legs.

_...Later._ "Good morning," Megumi ventured.

"Not anymore it's not," Sano snickered. "Bathroom's that way."

"I've been here before," Megumi reminded him dryly, heading for it. _Though there wasn't a hole in the wall night before last... my, my. I can see why the little kendo girl was so upset._

Necessities tended to, teeth and unbraided hair brushed, and a little extra water splashed in her face to clear out the cobwebs, Megumi took one moment out to just lean her head against the wall and shiver. _They know. They know._

_...And they didn't throw me back out on the street._

It didn't make sense. She _knew_ what she'd done. Such horrible things...

_"I chose to kill rather than submit."_

Such a gentle voice, to speak words that chilled her soul.

_"Because of you, New York is not lost."_

_I'm not brave,_ Megumi thought desperately. _I'm not..._

_"Come remember what it is to be free."_

And a free person didn't make drugs to kill other people. Didn't let the formula to do so fall into evil hands. A free person defied evil to the last, simply because it was the right thing to do.

Megumi swallowed dryly as the magnitude of what Kenshin asked sank in. _Oh gods. I'm not that strong. I can't be..._

_An it harm none,_ her parents' voices whispered in memory, _do what thou wilt._

"You're not harmless at all, are you, Himura?" Megumi whispered. "Cute and cuddly and sweet, oh yes; and under it all, a soul of pure steel." _I'm not that strong. I'm just - not._

_But I have to try. I have to do... something..._

Later. She'd think about it later.

For now, there were sandwiches to deal with.

_Mmm. Cheddar._ Megumi dove into the melted cheese sandwich, accepting the mug of apple juice Ayame handed her with a properly solemn smile. The little girl blushed and hid near Sano again, then ventured back to her own seat to eat her crust-less sandwich.

Megumi looked at the pile of cheesy crusts Sano was working through in addition to his own sandwich, and shook her head. "Are they yours?"

"Whoa! You kidding? I mean, you guys-"

"Girls!" Suzume insisted.

"Right, you _girls_ are great kids," the agent went on hastily. "But they're Gensai's. Usually they'd be at daycare, or Kaoru would be watching them. But she got an emergency call in from the temp agency she works for, and the doc..."

"Grandpa got a bad feeling," Ayame said, blinking owlishly. "So we're not going to see Mrs. Guay today."

"And since I'm hanging around with you anyway, I figured we might as well hang onto the little scamps," Sano finished, mouthing _later_ at her.

"Divination?" Megumi asked casually, unwilling to let it rest so easily.

"So I heard," Sano shrugged, carefully casual. "I called in, asked a couple people I know to take a look around. We'll see what comes up."

Megumi nodded, determined to get the full story later. "Kaoru temps?"

"You ever try making a living from pure martial arts in this city?" Sano shook his head. "She's got a steady student base, which puts her one up on a lot of people, but she still needs part-time jobs to get by."

Megumi raised an eyebrow, catching a slight shift of the agent's gaze. "Sanosuke Sagara. What did you _do?_"

Sano tried on an innocent grin. "Who, me?"

---------

Translations and Info:

_Aa_ - informal yes.

_Cheek_ - acquire prey through seduction.

_ENO_ - Extra-Natural Operative; a Kin working for Target Alpha.

_Kuso_ - beastly, "damn it".

_Maa, maa_ - easy, easy there.


	10. Chapter 10

---------

"Kaoru!" Misao bounded into her arms, hugging for one fierce second before tugging the stunned kendo teacher inside. "You're okay!"

"Uh... yes..." Surreptitiously checking she still had all her limbs attached, Kaoru made her way deeper into the lab somebody had made out of a converted Brooklyn factory. _Ugh, country music... why is everybody looking at me?_ "We were worried about you, too. Ba- Kenshin's friend said he hoped you... _hit_ the little guy somewhere painful." _Knifed him between the third and fourth ribs_ would have been a closer translation. Temporary truce or not, the blade had been rather up-front about exactly what he'd prefer to do to anyone who kidnapped one of his friends.

"Oh, I munched him a little," the little lab tech said cheerfully, leading her past a brunette secretary currently blowing a large, pink bubble as she finished reassembling a small semi-automatic. "Not that I think he noticed a few hours later... hi, Susan!"

_Pop._ Susan nodded, pointing at an appointment book on her computer screen.

"Yep!"

A shrug of shoulders, and an elegant wave of shell-pink nails.

"Thanks!"

"Ah-" Kaoru couldn't quite bring herself to ask.

"Oh, she talks on the _phone_ just fine," Misao nodded. Dropped her voice. "Incubi can really mess with your head."

"I guess so," Kaoru managed, breathing in coffee, the faint, lingering scent of gunpowder, and a crispy taste of something that wasn't quite fried chicken. "Ah - I was called here for a temp job; staffing for Silver Systems-"

"That's us!" Misao said cheerfully. "One of our names, anyway. C'mon, give us a try for a day. We could really, _really_ use your help."

"You've got to have people who can type," Kaoru said warily. Her resume had far more skills than that on it, but that was what the job had claimed to be.

"But not that many who've survived being cut by a Muramasa blade." A skinny guy with a pocket protector, a black cowboy hat, and a purplish bruise along his jaw leaned against the wall by a lab door, eyes on her like a cat on a mouse. "Ms. Kamiya, I presume?"

Misao's smile slipped a little. "Kaoru, Texas Holstein. Head of R&D, and my boss."

"You're the guy who wanted to bring Yahiko in for tests!" Blue eyes narrowed, and Kaoru grabbed for the gym bag she hadn't dared leave at home. "Well, forget firing me, because I _quit!_"

"Ack!" Texas barely ducked her swing. "Wait, wait, wait!"

"It's a real job!" Misao said hastily. "Honest! A day of piecework. We ask you some questions, take a few readings - that's it!"

Glaring, Kaoru puffed a stray bit of black hair out of her face, glancing at the small crowd of people poking their heads out of various doorways to watch her assault their boss. At least one small bet had just changed hands.

Which almost made her feel sorry for the man. Just a little.

A day of piecework, huh? "Fine," Kaoru said shortly. "You want to ask about Jin-e, I'll tell you about Jin-e. That's it."

"That's it?" Holstein repeated, disbelieving. "But this is an unparalleled opportunity-"

"Thanks!" Misao jumped in. "Come on, let me show you around..."

---------

Misao perched on a lab stool, hiding a grin as Kaoru submitted to a light skin scraping but narrowed her eyes at the needle Holstein tried to accidentally-on-purpose take out of a lab kit. _I should make popcorn,_ the lab tech thought irreverently.

True to her word, Kaoru had spared no detail, however gruesome, about Jin-e; from Kenshin's first suspicions that he'd been followed, to Kaoru's own kidnapping, to the icy poison of the wakizashi's bite into her neck. Also true to her word, she'd refused to discuss Yahiko, Kenshin, or Battousai in any way, shape, or form.

_You go, girl!_

Oh, Misao was all for finding out more about Kin and how they worked. But she'd seen too much of how hard Sano and Battousai fought to hang onto their own humanity in the midst of their job to be truly comfortable with Holstein's attitude of_ if it moves, sample it; if it doesn't, dissect it._

Without a bearer, after all, Battousai couldn't move.

Just like Jin-e couldn't….

She shivered, as if someone had dripped ice water down her spine. Which was ridiculous. Even Holstein had agreed the Muramasa blade was too dangerous to examine without level four containment measures in place. One careless nick, and someone's soul would be lost forever. For now, the blade was sealed up, untouched by any hands, no matter how well-armored. She knew that. She'd checked on the lab's containment measures as soon as she'd come in to work. All of them.

Just as she'd used her own computer to check on the security cameras, the computer network, and a few electronic nasty tricks she hadn't even imagined protected the building….

_Why did I do that?_

Unbidden, iolite gleamed blue-violet in her mind.

"We don't wear rings."

"Listen, you over-educated cross-wirer of bug zappers - Misao?" Kaoru shot a concerned look her way.

"People in my family don't wear rings," Misao clarified, feeling a blush rise into her cheeks. "They get in the way while we're practicing." Practicing _what,_ Holstein didn't need to know. Ninjutsu had always been her ace in the hole, her last line of escape in case everything went to hell and Kin crashed into the lab. _Nobody_ needed to know. "And Grandpa keeps up the old tradition that we're _always_ practicing. So we don't wear them."

Holstein rolled his eyes, trying to look casual about putting the still-capped needle and syringe away. "And exactly what does this have to do with Kurogasa?"

"Nothing! Just thinking out loud," Misao said hastily. "It's… not really important." _But it is. Aoshi would_ never _wear a ring._

_So why did he?_

Kim Possible's ring-tones went off at her belt, and Misao jumped. "Sorry - I'll take this in the hall…."

Outside the door, she found a niche between two piles of computer printout and opened her cell phone. "Hello?"

"Misao."

And the world went gray.

"Aoshi-sama…."

"You have prepared, as I asked you?"

"Yes," Misao said dreamily. "Everything's ready."

"Are you safe? Somewhere you will not be harmed?"

"Yes."

"Then begin."

_"Hai, Okashira." _

Misao pressed the sequence to put him on hold, then calmly, easily set off the text messages to trip measures she had prepared in advance. Alarms. Surveillance. Power.

Lights out.

Phone still on and open, Misao waited in the chaos for her master to find her.

---------

_Something's wrong._

What, Kenshin couldn't pin down. Their white plastic table was relatively free of stray gum-wads, and in a corner of the mall food court Battousai approved of as both good to spot trouble from and easy to get out of if it happened to show up. Their clothes were paid for and bagged at their feet. Yahiko was munching his way through his third hot dog. And Tyler had proven to be surprisingly easy to talk to, on any subject as perilous as the weather (vulnerable to Kin influence in surprising ways) or innocuous as staying in one piece in an all-out Kin-street gang war ("Duck", had been the laconic advice).

Or perhaps not so surprising, at that. Battousai's memories did say Darrow had been a reporter, before finding a talent for horror.

:_And that unsettles you?_: Battousai asked.

_No… not that…. _

It was just a bit startling, sometimes, to realize how much the blade _did_ remember. Like that night in Chinatown writ large; even when he didn't specifically ask Battousai about the lay of the land, every place he'd been today was _familiar_. Even if he'd never seen it. _Especially_ if he'd never seen it.

And when he had - then the sense of déjà vu was almost painful, as competing impressions of _this is the city I live in_ and _this is the territory I hunt_ drew knives and glared at each other.

:_Easy,_: the blade soothed. :_You'll grow used to it._:

_I'm forgetting myself…._

:_No. You are_ creating _a self. As you swore you would. Kenshin Himura who knew nothing of Kin is dead, and we have mourned him; Kenshin Himura who is my willing bearer lives, and so confounds our enemies. My memories are but another blade to your hand. You are a swordsman. You gave me your word you would not shrink from that._:

_Don't you throw that back at me!_ Fingers clenched on the table. _After what I've done to Yahiko-_

"Umm…." Tyler glanced at the crackling of plastic under claws. "Problem?"

On his last bite of hot dog, Yahiko froze. Glanced around the court for anything suspicious. Raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"Has-" Kenshin swallowed dryly. "Has Samantha ever Tagged you?"

Deliberately, Yahiko chewed and swallowed, trying not to make it obvious he was looking anywhere else.

Tyler's glance barely flickered toward the teen, before he let out a slow breath. "Yeah, actually… couple months back, after a bunch of Stakes shoved their Uzis in my face and tried to give the 'Kinsucker' a lead supplement. If we hadn't been there to meet a Sorceress friend of hers, I'd've been featured on the obituary page." A wry grin tugged at his lips. "Never realized you could clean and floss with an electrical fire before."

Yahiko's eyes widened.

"Yeah, I know what I sound like," Tyler said grimly. "They were out to kill me, Yahiko. Not because I'd ever done anything to them. Just for being a Crowley." He softened his voice. "Like you."

The teenager gulped.

"I don't like seeing people fried to death in front of me," Tyler stated. "I'm a writer. I'm - well, I _used_ to be - a nice, quiet, law-abiding citizen. I don't _like_ violence. But… if I'm going to stay with Samantha, with my friends - then I've got to accept that sometimes violence happens. Kin don't have cops, and Target Alpha - well, no offense-"

"None taken," Kenshin nodded. "Battousai has always had his own disagreements with agency policy, although DiBuccio has his respect."

"Had?" Tyler pounced.

_Oh, no,_ Kenshin groaned silently.

:_Hmm… perhaps it's not so bad as you might think,_: Battousai mused. :_Darrow has Golgotha's ear, and that is no small thing in Kin society._:

"My partnership with Battousai was an accident," Kenshin said carefully. "The agency doesn't approve, but DiBuccio has arranged for me to have official standing. The situation is still… unpredictable."

"You think they're waiting to see if you get killed off, so they can hand the sword over to a trained agent?" Tyler said bluntly.

"Hey!" Yahiko planted his hands on the table. "Sano would never-"

"_Sano_ would not, no," Kenshin agreed. "Nor Misao, nor Uramura, nor DiBuccio himself - I think. For the others-" He made himself shrug, even if the thought made his stomach sink to his ankles. "It's possible, that it is."

"You're _not_ going to die!"

Nearly teetering over from a sudden desperate armful of teenager, Kenshin steadied his chair and stroked mussed brown hair. "_Maa, maa,_ Yahiko-kun," he murmured. "We'll not be easily harmed, I swear it. Shhh…."

It was easier to purr, this time. Easier to gather the little one close and soothe that desperate ki with his own, even if the open food court meant he had to use a gentle prickle of claws along the neck in place of fangs. Fangs would have been easier, more in tune with instinct - but touch was touch, and _cub-will-not-be-harmed_ the same no matter what weapon carried the message.

A sudden soft sigh, and a limp weight on his shoulder, told him the message had gotten through quite well, indeed.

"How late were you up last night?" Tyler demanded in an undertone.

Kenshin blinked, stunned by the utter sense of _trust_ filtering through sleeping ki. "Not that late, I thought."

:_We make him feel safe,_: Battousai observed. :_I do not think he has felt so since his parents died._:

_Cub,_ Kenshin reflected, trying not to shiver at the heavy weight of responsibility that instinct brought.

Not to mention the fine edge of insanity.

_One with my mark, I - I_ have _to protect. If something threatened Yahiko - I wouldn't stop, I wouldn't hesitate, I wouldn't even check my conscience. The threat would_ cease.

:_I would stop you._:

_Not for the right reasons,_ Kenshin insisted.

:_Not for the_ same _reasons, no. But if the act would truly damage your soul - yes, I would stop you._: A cool laugh. :_Though I would prefer it if both of those who are ours avoided any situations that would force us to make such dire choices._:

_Both of those who are ours…._ "Kaoru," Kenshin said softly.

"Say what?" Tyler asked warily.

"It's Kaoru." Kenshin smoothed brown hair. "Yahiko's safe, I can feel it - it's not him. It has to be Kaoru."

"Whoa, whoa," Tyler waved his hands, "your Tag doesn't just locate a human? It lets you know something's wrong?"

"Sometimes." It hadn't with Sano, and Jin-e; but then, the Muramasa blade had ever been skilled at concealing his ki. Sanosuke's flare of _fear_ had been his only warning before-

_We didn't lose him. We_ did not _lose him_.

:_But he is still unmarked._: Battousai's unease rippled through him.

_You want to do that to him_ again? _After what I've done to Kaoru, and Yahiko?_

:_He has asked for it. Is it yourself you do not trust, my own - or him?_:

A fair question, Kenshin admitted to himself, fighting back a faint red haze of anger. What he had with his brother and his brother's sensei was - private. Intimate.

_Family. _

To possibly let Sano into that closeness… no. No matter how much a friend Battousai considered him. He couldn't.

_Later. Argue about it later._ Kenshin let out a soft breath, and set it aside. Steadying Yahiko against him, Kenshin closed his eyes and _reached_ for the heartbeat that was Kaoru-

Fog.

_No! _

:_No,_: Battousai growled, rage rising like an Arctic tsunami. :_She is ours. She is_ mine, _and _no one _can block me from what is mine! No one, save-_:

"Oniwabanshuu," Kenshin breathed.

Fury drowned him.

---------

Clinging to a bus strap, Tyler wondered if his fellow passengers would mind too awfully much if he clawed through the nearest window glass and dove out into Brooklyn traffic.

_I want to go home now. Please?_

He could have sat down. There was room enough. Packed as the bus was, there was an inexplicable empty space around Himura, filled with a cool, controlled rage that had driven ordinary New Yorkers away and twanged Tyler's Kin-hardened nerves like a violin string.

_Yahiko_ was sitting down. Tyler couldn't quite figure out how.

Then again, he couldn't quite get how the kid had _fallen asleep_ on a Kin assassin in the first place; a Kin Golgotha himself had admitted he'd rather not try going up against, one-on-one.

_Partly an assassin,_ Tyler reminded himself. _The guy holding the sword's still a decent guy…._

A decent man who'd set his yawning brother gently on his feet, whispered a soft, calming word - then touched his sword-hilt, straightened his shoulders, and drawn _focus_ around him like a veil of snow.

Then led them out into the city, following the occult thread that bound him to Kaoru.

_And can he walk like a normal person?_ Tyler thought, exasperation bubbling up through the frozen dread. _Can he even call a cab? Ha! Like I'd be that lucky._

Bus, subway, back street, passing slow truck - Tyler had a lingering blurry impression of panic, a tractor-trailer full of furniture, and some _very_ startled gang-bangers catching a piano in the teeth.

_Crow might have gotten here faster,_ the writer thought. _But not by much._

And now they were on a bus again, on the next leg of whatever bizarre trail Kenshin - or Battousai - had decided was the shortest distance between two points.

Tyler had a sinking suspicion that wherever that was, the bus didn't stop there.

And that they'd be getting off anyway.

_I really, really want to go home._

But he'd learned a lot about Kin this past year; from Samantha X, and other, less friendly sources. Human as most of them might have once been, they were predators now, with all a top predator's stranglehold of instincts. Human mind and morals let them fight it, sometimes, but still….

LT Sally had tried to cheek him once, right in Club AfterDark, back when he'd first met Samantha. An innocent enough approach… well, innocent as any Succubus looking for her next meal could be. Samantha had been cold, but not violent; intimidating, but only as much as was necessary to get Sally to back off and stay off.

Another, less experienced Succubus by name of Jasmine had tried the same thing, barely a month ago. Samantha had all but torn her heart out.

Tagged people were _territory,_ Samantha had explained while cleaning up afterward; halting, barely looking him in the eye. There was a mark in his aura that said he was _her_ prey, nobody else's. Mess with that, and prepare to die.

"Prey" didn't exactly sort well with "sort-of boyfriend" in his head, but Tyler had swallowed the angry words, trying to think it through. It made sense, sort of. Predators tended to stake out and defend a territory large enough to survive on, and humans hadn't always been as plentiful prey as they were these days. Willing donors were scarce, a necessary hedge against starvation in bad times. A canny Kin intending to move in on someone else's turf would avoid anyone with a Tag. At least, until after they'd wiped out the original territory holder.

Something had just stomped all over Kenshin's turf. With cleats. Tyler wasn't sure exactly what would happen next, but he was willing to bet on violence.

Which on the surface would seem to make it a stupid idea to still be here. Any ordinary New Yorker would be running for his life.

And any ordinary New Yorker would likely already be dead.

_Run from an angry predator? I don't think so._

Walk away, maybe; he probably could have managed that. Despite the odd, steel-blue gleam of the sword-bearer's eyes, Kenshin still seemed to have control of himself. For now.

But then Tyler would never know what happened. At least not until it was over.

_Curiosity's going to kill me, one of these days,_ Tyler reflected ruefully, as the bus jolted past a steaming cab, a tow truck, and two policemen throwing a chain-decked young man up against a wall, plucking off his knives like steel grapes. "So… where are we going again?"

"Where you shouldn't."

_Ow._ "And these Oniwabanshuu are-?"

He was talking to empty air.

_Damn! Even carrying a kid, he's fast as Golgotha said-_

And… the strap really was a good idea, after all.

Tyler held on as the bus squealed to an unplanned stop, let go and wove his way forward through yelling passengers before the driver could recover and get started again. "Thanks!"

Rubbing a suspicious red mark along his throat, the driver gave him a look usually reserved for stockbrokers who decided to bungee-jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.

_Who, me? I'm sane. Really. I'm-_ Tyler looked up and down the quiet but grungy streets of a Brooklyn manufacturing district, heart sinking. _-Totally clueless about where to go._

The writer's nose wrinkled suddenly, and he sneezed. _Smoke?_

_Where there's smoke, there's fire - and humans using the first weapon the Herd ever had against Kin._

He rounded a corner, two-

Chaos.

It had been a factory, once. He could see that in the solidity of concrete and steel, the blocky lines that didn't pretend to be anything other than what they were; a fortress of _making_ against a world that all too often wanted nothing more than to destroy.

Now, it lay broken, bleeding fire and smoke; half of one wall gouged out as if giant claws had dug in and _pulled_.

_Fire and smoke and… people…._

Swallowing as he recognized the scent of burning blood, Tyler dug desperate fingers into his hair. _Oh god, I can't do this. I'm not a cop, not a fireman, damn sure not a paramedic. I'm just a writer. I'm-_

_-Here._

_And right now, I'm all they've got._

"To the burning hells with security!" Kenshin snarled somewhere inside the broken walls. "Call for ambulances _now,_ or your next sight will be the morgue!"

_Not quite all,_ Tyler realized with painful relief, venturing into the thinning smoke. _We've got a shopkeeper-slash-assassin on the case._

For all the good that would do. He kind of doubted they handled large-scale disaster medicine in Kin assassin school-

A clawed hand grabbed his. "Have you any training?"

Steel-blue, flecked with amber; Tyler recoiled instinctively, flicking his glance away from that gaze to-

Red. White. Something pale and tan flapping loose over both of them that really shouldn't be.

_Oh god, that's someone's-_

Kenshin yanked him sideways to throw up, aiming him away from broken flesh and bone. "Tyler." His voice was quiet, gentle. Unyielding as steel. "Tyler, we need your help. We need everyone's help. I want you to stay with Yahiko and do what I say. _Wakarimasu ka?_" He stopped, shook his head. "Do you understand?"

"I'm good." Tyler swallowed, focussing on the white-faced teen hovering nearby. "I- but what can I _do?_"

"Hold lives together."

There were gloves; odd blue not-quite-latex things Tyler had never seen before, from a box Kenshin grabbed out of a cabinet drawer and tossed at them both. There was gauze and padding from boxes Kenshin and one or two of the ambulatory people yanked off of walls, and clawed hands guiding his own to lean pressure on a moaning brunette's ravaged leg. There were yells and fire extinguishers blasting and a blessed blurring of chaos….

Only it wasn't chaos, Tyler realized, after what seemed an eternity of shattered instants. There was order, crystallizing around that flow of red hair. An odd, bloodstained order; the lightly injured herded to help or sit and rock outside, the hopeless smears that had been living bodies left to lie, those claw and fang-ravaged but still living paired with helping hands….

And another pair of gloved hands worked in and around his, smearing something mint-green and sparkling into the wound. Red stopped trickling around his gloves; the brunette slumped, moans dying to painful whimpers.

"That should do for now," his tall, elegant savior breathed, tossing back her black hair. "Damn, I need this tied back - discard those, grab one of those twist-ties and do it, would you?"

Tyler blinked at her. _Red. So much red…._

"Wonderful," she growled. "Risk my neck to come down here on Rooster-head's say-so - Yahiko! Your friend's broken!"

"He's not- I-" Yahiko curled on himself, white-faced.

_"No!" _

Kenshin caught bloody gloves before they could touch skin; held them, pinning the dazed brown gaze with softening violet. "Yahiko." Soft. A little shaky. "Let me take those off you, so you can help Megumi."

"Better idea," a tall, brown-haired young thug with a red headband and a grim look said, snapping a cell phone closed. "You can help me keep an eye on outside, in case whoever did this came back. Battousai's a lot better at field medicine than I am, anyway."

"Oniwabanshuu," Kenshin growled. "They took Kaoru, Sano!"

"Yeah, I - you _know_ it's them?" Sano gave the redhead a stunned look. "She called me before some were-tiger dragged her away from the phone - said you never carry a cell. And I couldn't reach _you_ 'cause you didn't take your mike, which I thought we'd talked about-"

"Just go!"

"Going, going…."

Shedding his gloves and reaching for a second set, Tyler finally took a look around the tables, microwaves, and counters covered with odd instruments. _This isn't a factory, this is a science lab! What are we doing in a-_ Realization washed over him. _Ohmigod, we're in a_ Target Alpha _lab…._

Sirens. Relief hit like a punch to the gut, winding him.

Kenshin's head snapped up, and he breathed a low, Japanese curse. "Megumi-dono. Hold Susan still, I need to see to her before they take her elsewhere-"

Mewling, the brunette tried to scrabble away.

"Susan-chan." Amber narrowed; his voice was a wind off glacier ice. "I do not need you conscious to treat your wound for Infection. The paramedics do, for your physical wounds - but persist in this foolishness, and I will let them take their chances." Amber flared at Megumi. _"Hold her."_

Susan screamed.

Shuddering, Tyler found himself outside, hands on his knees as he tried to just breathe-

"Move!"

The writer scrabbled out of the path of a very _angry_ group of armed men and women, adding _rune-carved semi-automatics_ and _Fed-type suits_ and coming up with _I don't really want to know_.

"Uramura's team." Sano plucked Tyler out of the way of the paramedics running in their wake, nodding toward the Japanese-looking agent in glasses in the lead. "Good. They'll know Kenshin's not trying to hurt her."

Tyler stared at the agent, wondering just what had stopped his ears up. _Hello? Screaming?_

"Were-tiger claw-rakes," Sano said, slow and clear as if he were talking to a quarterback unearthed from a scrimmage pile. He held Tyler's gaze a second more, shrugged and glanced at the dazed teen standing out of the way by the wall, shaking with every shriek. "If Kenshin doesn't clear out the Infection, she could end up Kin. And that's _Susan._ She'd probably kill herself."

"B-but Kenshin-" Yahiko stammered, face white.

"Walked into it for his own reasons," Sano said bluntly. "Hell of a lot of difference between that, and knowing somebody tore you up and left you to die. Or change."

"Like Tae." Yahiko swallowed dryly. "Where's Kaoru?"

"Damned if I know," Sano bit out. "'Sai followed her mark here? She should _be_ here."

"Part of her was."

Tyler jumped involuntarily, staring wide-eyed at the bloodied ghost that had appeared out of the smoke. _How can anybody be that silent?_

Yahiko stared at the specter's hands instead, clawed fingers cupping an origami woman marked with alien kanji, dotted with drying red-brown, and wrapped with a strand of blue-black hair. "The heck?"

"A ninja illusion." Steel-blue glowed, flecked with lethal amber. "Known to the clans of Iga, and honed to lethal perfection by the shadow-servants of the Shogunate known as… the Oniwabanshuu."

Tyler fought the urge to run shrieking. Oh, he'd heard classic writer cliches about "frozen rage" before, and he'd been at ground zero of everything from an incipient bar fight to a Kin rumble, but-

_This - it's like being dumped in the Arctic Sea, and the sharks are circling, and they_ don't care….

With a shake of red hair, those terrible eyes closed, clawed fists trembling.

And the deadly chill… eased.

Steel-blue opened again, free of amber rage. "Yahiko."

The boy swallowed. "You're still mad."

"Yes," the swordsman admitted evenly. "But I won't hurt you. I will _never_ let the rage gain enough hold to hurt you, that I will not-"

_"Why did they do that?" _

Kenshin made an odd sound as a teenager grabbed hold like he was the last rope out of the abyss; to Tyler's ears, it sounded kind of like "Oro?"

"Why," Yahiko's muffled wail filtered through the red gi, "why would anyone, why, _why-_"

"Dunno," Sano said grimly, checking his gun with a decisive click. "But believe you me, kid, they sure got Target Alpha mad as all the Twisted Dimensions put together." His voice flattened. "Kin are going to die tonight."

"Which may be," Kenshin said, very softly, "precisely what was intended."

"Say what?" Tyler blurted.

The cool gaze flicked at him, weighing the fact that he was still listening; shrugged it off, and turned to Sano. "Sanosuke. None of those bodies is Misao."

Sano gaped. "But - Itachi-jou was _in_ there, she wouldn't just run off-"

"And the lack of malevolent ki, even shielded… the wakizashi that is Jin-e, is not here."

White-faced, the agent couldn't even swear.

"Hooo boy…." Tyler gripped his knees, crouching so his hammering heart didn't have to work so hard to keep blood in his brain. It all seemed to want to drain down his spine, like a river of red ice. "It's got a new host?"

"No!" Yahiko's fists thudded against his brother's chest. "Not Misao! We've got to- got to-"

"He did not take her," Kenshin said swiftly. "I would sense that, Yahiko, he _could_ not cloud that ravaging of ki- Jin-e did not take a host. Not here."

"Are you saying somebody deliberately picked that thing up and carried it off?" Sano gave Kenshin a look of pure, unadulterated disbelief.

"How did they do that?" Tyler said faintly.

"Well, I guess, if you kept the hilt wrapped and didn't cut yourself-" the agent started.

"No." Gulping back bile, Tyler straightened and looked toward the bloodstained hole in the wall; shuddered, and looked away. "Those bodies, the way they were… _smeared_…. That was Body Control, had to be. Which means - there was an Animate with them. And-" he gestured helplessly upward, where the sun shone down like molten gold.

Gold that should have seared any Animate to ash and dust.

"Good question," Kenshin breathed. One red brow quirked up at Sano, over a gaze suddenly alive with interest. "Bring him."

Sano nodded. "Gotcha."

Tyler backed up, feeling the world go inexplicably gray. _No no no, we're not going back_ in there-!

Neurons took a vote, and plunged into unconsciousness.

---------

_Ow._

Bracing himself against a steel wall of the blacked-out van as they snaked through traffic, Han'nya rubbed his cracked forehead, demon-mask looking down at a bound, gagged, and thoroughly unconscious kendo instructor with dazed disbelief.

_We're lucky we took Kamiya off-guard when we went after Megumi. This woman is vicious! _

No match for Aoshi's skill with a kodachi, most likely. Child of this gentler, modern age certainly. But with a wooden blade in her hands, and the utter certainty that her blows _would not_ kill her opponents-

She'd attacked with all the ferocity of the samurai women of Aizu, stunning Shikijou, shattering Hyotokko's kneecap, and beating poor Beshimi to a bloody pulp.

All that within moments of their break-in. If the Okashira hadn't tagged her with a sleep-venomed dart, who knew what havoc she could have wreaked.

_I doubt we'd have been able to take her alive._ Feeling the shift in the van's vibrations that told him they were back in Manhattan's home streets, Han'nya let out a soft breath of relief. _And Okashira's orders or not, I prefer not to have Battousai out for my blood!_

Wrapping bandages over torn flesh, Beshimi snarled. "I say we Drain the bitch, and leave her bloodless corpse on Kanryuu's doorstep!"

"No," Han'nya said sharply. "Her life is precious to us, Beshimi. For now."

They could deal with a Battousai enraged; they were the Oniwabanshuu, they could handle one Kin assassin, if needs must. If Kanryuu's plan required it, and the Okashira did not yet see fit to sever their path from his - yes, they could handle even Battousai. Especially if the deadly assassin was caught between rage, and terror for the life he would _know_ rested in their hands. A soul divided was weak. Unworthy of facing the ninja who would crush it utterly.

Though crush it they would. They were onmitsu; honor did not bind them. Only contracts, and duty to the clan.

A Battousai in blood-fury, convinced he had nothing left in this world to lose - no. That, Han'nya refused to face.

Even if Aoshi seemed tempted to do just that.

Han'nya stole a glance to the darkest corner of the van, where the Okashira slept, trenchcoat a snowy drift over himself and their little human _kunoichi_. Ubo might be strong as any vampire after sunset, but every move in the daylight hours was a constant struggle against sleep.

Which was precisely why Aoshi had chosen that time to make their assault.

Target Alpha had not survived the past eight decades among Kin by being stupid. They knew their enemies' Banes.

_And the sun is lethal to..._ almost _all of us._

Grinning toothily, Han'nya looked at the lead container imprisoning their prize. Even with metal and charms to bind it, the long tube seemed to pulse with hate.

How pleasant, that he'd already arranged to stand as guard when Kanryuu pulled the meteoric knife from Smythe's chest. He couldn't wait to see the look on that Sorcerer's face.

_Promise Kanryuu weapons unmatched, will you? How fortunate for you to have the chance to live up to your word._

_But all great magics demand sacrifice, Sorcerer. And I suspect what Jin-e will demand won't be anything you like, at all..._

---------

_Breathe. Remember to breathe._

Easy to think, Battousai thought wryly. Hard to do, when every layer of his steel seemed edged in icy fury. That someone would dare interfere with what was _his..._

Kenshin's patience was strained to rags and tatters, but it still reached out to him, protecting him from the instinctive impulse to cast planning aside and start on the hunt. A _stupid_ impulse, he _knew_ it - surely as he knew he could no more deny it than he could pluck out grains of his own steel.

:_I'll hold,_: Kenshin promised him as they shielded Yahiko's eyes, heading back inside on Sano's heels to try and piece together the Oniwabanshuu's deadly puzzle. Tyler was draped over Sanosuke's shoulder, blissfully unaware of still-smoldering fires, shattered walls, and unidentifiable bits of flesh and bone. :_I promise I'll hold... oh god, so much blood..._:

Hmm. For one born in modern times, it likely was a bit much. _Remember Toba Fushimi._

:_I wasn't at-_:

_But you_ remember. _As I do. You were with me before; be with me still. This is no different from treating the wounded._

:_I was choosing who would die!_:

_You were choosing who would_ live. _We cannot save everyone, Kenshin._ Old memories roused, bringing sorrow in their wake. _No matter how much we might wish to._

:_I don't want to be like this,_: Kenshin whispered desperately. :_I don't want to look at this - this_ horror, _and not feel..._:

Clamping down hurt and anger, the sword waited.

:_But... it's what Kaoru-dono needs, isn't it,_: Kenshin went on reluctantly. :_If we're going to get her back, I need to think - and I can't think if I feel._:

_A soul of ice will not save her!_ Battousai battled back his own fury, shuddering at the chill. _I am too angry, you are too hurt; neither of us can face this evil alone. We must - try to balance. If we can._

For a moment he thought his bearer would lash out, deny the wound-

But hurt melted into misery pure as Yahiko's, washing away some of the deadly chill. :_Misao loves him. How could he_ do _this?_:

_I don't know, my own. I don't know..._ Battousai could not suppress a snarl. _But I very much want to find out._

:_Yes..._:

An unsettling _slipping_ feeling in his soul, as if two wind-battered trees had come to rest against each other, branches interweaving-

Steel and flesh. The cage of ribs, rising and falling with each breath; the cage of steel that was his saya, holding him back from bloody vengeance on whatever Kin might fall into his fury-chilled hands.

Startled, he moved to yield the body back to Kenshin-

:_No!_: Kenshin tempered that quick demand with a hint of sheepish surprise. :_No, forgive... I'm right here. It's only - you took some of the weight, that's all. I'm still here, I just..._:

_Feel the sword as well?_ Battousai said softly. He could sense that weight of horror, tempered by his own memories of the battlefield. As he could smell burnt blood, and feel Yahiko's impatient push against Kenshin's chest.

A mental shrug. :_I imagine it's as close to balanced as we can manage, that I do. Let's just take advantage of it while we can, yes?_:

_Yes,_ Battousai agreed thoughtfully, feeling his bearer's patience soak into him like sunlight. He was steel and death and magic. He was a legend even Kin feared.

He was _behind_ Kenshin's eyes.

It felt oddly comfortable.

_Breathe. Keep breathing..._

_We've a control team leader to rein in._

Uramura's ki surged and roiled with rage as the agent stalked the most intact lab, Stutler and Johnson dashing here and there to gather fragments of evidence, while Megumi taped a bandage on a dazed Holstein and Rachel Levinson spoke softly with the few still-standing survivors, coaxing out details of the attack. The water tank was shattered, the stock of wolfsbane tainted with cayenne, and a shapeless lump of black cloth smoldered in the wreck of what had been a Bunsen burner.

Battousai felt a sudden, amazed shock. _Is that-_

:_Oh yes,_: Kenshin replied with dark delight, thrusting Yahiko into Sano's startled grip before he snatched up cloth remnants and tossed them into a chemical hood. The rush of air fanned embers into a rush of flames, and a certain annoying scientist's ten-gallon hat crumbled into ash.

Wobbling away from Megumi, Holstein jerked around at the soft _whoomph_. "Hey!"

"Oro?" Kenshin blinked innocently.

"You- you-" Holstein sputtered. "Get him!"

Snared in rage and instinct, Uramura moved-

Kenshin sidestepped, drawing the sheathed sakabatou in one smooth move that laid lacquered steel against Uramura's carotid. :_We've been bugged!_:

Shock broke through the anger. Uramura squinted, shaking his head. "What-?"

Stepping deliberately closer, Kenshin reached out to touch his hand. :_Show him._:

_This is the nature of our enemy, Uramura..._

Gray-clad ghosts in the night. Smiling geisha whose golden combs bore poison. The fruit-seller who'd been in the marketplace a dozen years, to leave his simple booth one night to ensure a crucial gate was unlatched-

_We have little time. I do not ask your aid - I know what Target Alpha will require from you, in the wake of such devastation. I only ask that you _listen...

A moment's whisper, and the control team leader stepped back, eyes wide behind his glasses. "How...?"

"Only ask yourself this, Uramura-san," Kenshin said evenly, returning sword and saya to his obi. "Do you believe me?"

"Kenshin?" Sano asked warily.

Uramura's jaw set. One hand lifted, signaled. _Search. Ears._

Sano strangled a whistle as he set Tyler down, handed back a startled kid, and joined the search.

Yahiko gave his brother a doubtful glance, evidently gauging the flecks of amber in steel-blue. "What's-"

:_Shh,_: Kenshin cautioned, gripping his shoulder and subtly gesturing for Megumi to join them as Tyler groaned and muttered on the floor. :_Our listeners may already be suspicious, but they don't know, not yet-_:

_Smash!_

_"Chikusho,"_ Kenshin groaned, as Uramura's people gathered and shattered intricate circuits, outraged beyond rational thought at this further invasion. "Sano!"

"Got one," his partner reported, switching the little unit off and cupping it in one strong palm. "Damn it, if we just had Itachi-jou..."

"Likely that's one reason we don't," Kenshin sighed.

"One reason?" Uramura bit out, advancing on their tight knot of defiance. "If you know something, Himura..."

"There was a truck, wasn't there," groaned up from the floor by Kenshin's sandal. "There had to be a truck, I couldn't feel this bad and still be breathing if it wasn't..."

"Sorry, nothing that simple," Megumi said tartly. "I'm afraid you suffered a severe localized drop in blood pressure and oxygenation due to traumatic stress."

"English," Tyler muttered, rubbing still-closed eyes.

"You fainted."

"The heck!"

"Sad but true," Megumi smirked.

"Why are they here?" Uramura growled.

"First, do no harm," Megumi snapped back at him. "I'd think even _you_ might be familiar with that one."

"Easy, easy..." Kenshin slid between the two of them, hands raised and empty. "Uramura-san. They've taken two of our people, and Kurogasa. We do not have time for wounded pride, that we don't."

"_Two_ of our people?" Uramura raised a brow.

Battousai felt his hands trembling. Stilled them. "If you will hold Kamiya-sensei's life hostage to our behavior, Uramura, then yes, you _will_ count her among _ours_." A familiar ki touched the edges of his senses, and he stifled an urge to let loose words he'd learned in the darkest back alleys of Kyoto. _Kami, not her..._

"What in god's name happened here?"

"Oh, _great,_" Yahiko muttered, packing all a young teen's loathing into the words as he scooted out of Natasha Falconi's direct line-of-sight.

"Not a nice lady?" Tyler asked in an undertone, following the kid's lead.

Brown eyes rolled. "Does Godzilla like tuna?"

"Gotcha."

:_Why is everyone trying to hide behind me?_: Kenshin wondered wryly. :_Sano would seem far more likely._:

_Natasha isn't afraid of Sano,_ Battousai pointed out as the Sorceress bore down on Uramura like a white-lipped missile. _Damn. She may be an ENO operative, but practically speaking, she outranks Uramura. If she decides to give orders - and she_ will-

:_Trust him._:

_You've far more faith in human nature than I do, my own._ Battousai clenched and unclenched his claws. _It's Kaoru's life on the line._

:_I know._: Kenshin sighed. :_But you know him... and I have to believe there's someone else besides Sano here we can trust._:

"How did this happen?" Natasha demanded. "We protected this place-"

"Found it, sir!" Stutler called from under a piece of machinery. Wriggled his way out into the room, brandishing a cased CD.

"Found what?" Holstein griped, ducking to look at the hole in the wall Stutler had opened. A hole that had all too obviously been designed into the building's very framework, years ago. "There's nothing under - you - you - it's not enough that _they_ bugged my labs, you did it too!?!"

"Standard procedure for research facilities, I'm afraid," Natasha said dryly. "Ever since that Nevada incident... well."

The lab director's eyes were wide as saucers. "_What_ Nevada incident?"

"Beyond your clearance level," the Sorceress shrugged. "Suffice it to say, have you ever pictured what might happen if someone accidentally opened a portal to Hell?"

Holstein gulped.

"Precisely."

Battousai tried not to snicker. Not too hard; humor was swamped by the burning need to see whatever that CD had gleaned.

:_The more we know, the better,_: Kenshin agreed. :_But not too close. Natasha thinks us young, unschooled, redundant-_:

_And we wish her to keep thinking so._

"Holstein really didn't know?" Sano asked under his breath.

"Which makes it likely Misao did not, either," Kenshin answered, just as quietly. "For Kaoru-dono's sake, I hope so, that I do."

Sano bristled. "Itachi-jou wouldn't-"

"She _is not here,_ Sano." Kenshin kept his voice low, watching Natasha's ki for any sign she was listening to them. For now, the Sorceress seemed content to watch Uramura's team analyze their CD on a laptop. As if she hadn't even seen them...

:_She didn't, did she?_: Kenshin asked, startled. :_We didn't want her to see us-_:

_And we may have remained unseen,_ Battousai agreed. _No telling how long it will last... your thoughts on Misao follow the same path as mine?_

:_It makes sense. No matter how much I hate it._: "Misao's mind is strong, hai," Kenshin said in an undertone. "Were she to clash wills with any other Kin, even Jin-e, I would not be surprised to find her the victor. But..."

"She loves Aoshi," Megumi said softly. "I only saw them together for a moment, but... she wasn't afraid. Not once she saw his eyes."

"And Aoshi is-?" Tyler muttered.

"Head honcho of the Oniwabanshuu, who seem to be working for Kanryuu," Sano filled in. "Ubo."

Tyler visibly added that up in his head, and started swearing softly.

Yahiko listened for a blink's worth of time, and turned a skeptical look on his brother. "He turns into a butterfly. So?"

"Ubo are very skilled at mesmerizing victims," Kenshin said levelly.

"...Oh." Yahiko shook his head, opened his mouth-

"_Language,_ cub."

"Don't call me that-"

_"Damn."_ Natasha's voice cut through their conversation like a knife. "Run that again."

Four split-screens of camera views rewound on a laptop monitor, played again; inside the labs, on the roof of the converted factory, outside-

As a nondescript gray van with blacked-out back windows and a tinted windshield pulled up almost against one wall.

:_Oh!_: Kenshin sucked in a short breath.

_Clever, indeed,_ Battousai agreed grimly.

"No sun, no problem," Tyler was muttering, blinking. "Get in while you're in an underground parking garage, have somebody else drive you... why didn't I think of that..."

The driver, a tall, scarred man with more muscles than two of Sano put together, hopped out. Glanced for watchers, wary as a cat, then laid quick ribbons of something that chilled both sword and bearer to their core-

"That explains the wall," Uramura said grimly.

The blast was almost - _almost_ - not a shock.

_Uramura does know his explosives,_ Battousai observed wryly, as Kenshin shuddered. And moved to shield Yahiko's eyes, as the views switched more to inside the labs and the carnage began.

Sano was cursing under his breath, a slow stream of antique Japanese and modern New York profanity. "...If I'd just _been_ here-"

"But you weren't," Megumi said; almost level, though her face was drained and pale. "None of us were. We can't change the past. No matter how much we want to," she added, half to herself.

"But we can take steps to ensure the past does not repeat," Kenshin replied, meeting her gaze. "Megumi-dono. Thank you. It cannot have been easy, coming here."

"I-" Megumi licked dry lips. "Kanryuu - he has to be stopped. He-" Her eyes widened. "Oh, no..."

"What?" Yahiko grumbled, trying to push off unmoving claws. "What's going on, let me see!"

Wincing, Kenshin released him. Watched with him, as the hidden cameras caught a birds-eye view of Misao standing in the darkened corridor, a white-clad Okashira cupping her cheek, bending to whisper to her...

And she walked out of that camera view, passing bodies and blood, reappearing on the outside view just long enough to get into the van.

"An inside job." Natasha's voice could have chilled nitrogen.

_"Hey!"_

_Oh gods, teenagers..._

"Don't you dare put this on Misao!" Yahiko slipped out of his grasp and jabbed a finger toward the Sorceress, face set and defiant. "Aoshi messed with her head. It could've been anybody!"

:_Which is half the reason they're going to hate her for this,_: Kenshin thought bleakly. :_It could have been them - but they'll make themselves believe it couldn't._:

_And I thought you had faith in humans,_ Battousai thought wryly.

:_In Sano, Kaoru, Uramura - yes. Faith in_ humans? _I'm a New Yorker._:

"You." Natasha's eyes flashed as they rested on Kenshin, then Megumi. She turned an angry look on Sanosuke. "_That_ was Misao's Aoshi? The missing cousin she's been looking for all these years?"

"Um-" Sano backed up a step, hands half-raised in silent defense.

"You knew," Natasha stated, fingers twitching. Behind her, Uramura's team was reaching toward weapons, as the awful realization sank in. "You knew, and you reported _nothing_."

"Now, hang on-"

One hand lifted, falling into a shape of magic. "You are responsible for this."

_Snk._

The room froze.

"Now that I have your attention," Battousai said wryly, thumb still holding the sakabatou loose in its saya. "I am the senior agent, by quite a few decades. Any fault in what was reported, or not, falls on me. _Not_ Sanosuke." Amber eyes burned into green. "I believed her when she said he'd only ordered her to go home, as the honor of his family would have required. I should not have. I should have gone to her, checked her directly for any trace of Infection or Tags. But I had gravely injured charges to tend, and my bearer's brother to ward. _I_ trusted Misao." One deliberate step forward. "If you mean to place blame rather than pursue our enemies, Natasha-san, place it correctly."

"Um, guys?" Yahiko muttered.

"_Our_ enemies, sword of darkness?" A blonde brow went up.

"Damn right, _our_." Sano was at Kenshin's shoulder, cracking his knuckles. "When's 'Sai given you reason to think he's on the bad guys' side? _Ever?_"

"Guys! Scary lady! Hey!" Yahiko tugged on his gi, pointing toward the wall nearest the hole. "I think we've got bigger problems."

Kenshin reached out with his ki sense, and groaned. :_Not them..._:

---------

"Holy..."

Detective Bobby Goren shook his head as his partner gave up and just whistled at the extent of the carnage. _And that about says it all._

Not what he'd expected to find at the tail end of a paper chase after a death under suspicious circumstances. Then again, he still wasn't sure this Silver Systems really did own a certain inferno-waiting-to-happen sweatshop in Chinatown, or if they'd just been used as a shell by some unscrupulous corporate lawyer. The paperwork was iffy, at best.

But given who was down as Silver Systems' owner, it was enough for a warrant. And if it hadn't been, this... _abattoir_... definitely would be.

"Who's in charge here?" Detective Alexandrea Eames demanded, grabbing the nearest hapless crime scene tech. Not one of the NYPD's Crime Scene Unit, which was damning all by itself. "Why weren't we called?"

"Because this is our mess, Detectives." The blonde they'd crossed verbal swords with early this morning stepped into plain view, leather jacket dotted here and there with drying blood. "And we'll clean it up ourselves, thank you very ruddy much."

_Silver Systems got the DEA's attention, too? Interesting..._ "Well, that might be a _little_ tricky," Goren half-smiled, left hand displaying their warrant. "Given as we need to see this company's financial records. Now."

"Don't play dueling jurisdictions with me, Detectives." Falconi's eyes were hard as jade. "You'll lose."

"To the DEA?" Goren allowed himself to look surprised. "I kind of think the judges will say this much blood outweighs any kind of drug charge."

Natasha only smiled.

_You know, I think I've seen friendlier looks on sharks._ The detective braced himself, determined not to flinch. He was Major Case Squad. He'd dealt with the blackest evil the city of New York could serve up. There was no way he'd back down from someone just suffering an excess of authority.

"Agent Sagara." Natasha's voice carried into the darkened building, a hard hand yanking on a steel leash. "I believe you and your partner are familiar with these officers? Do help them out. Uramura and I are going to be _very busy_."

"Hey, wait a minute-!"

"Do I need to make that an order?"

Sagara came out of the hole in the wall like a mad Doberman, fists clenched, toothpick standing straight out from his teeth. "Hell, yes! In case it slipped your mind-"

"Oh, do keep talking," Natasha all but purred. "After all, Makimachi was one of your close associates, yes? And, well, birds of a feather..." She shrugged.

"It wasn't her fault," Sanosuke said tightly.

"We don't know that, now, do we?" Not even a hint of a smile graced Natasha's face now. "All our evidence indicates that what happened could have been completely voluntary."

_Voluntary?_ Goren traded a quick glance with his partner, caught Alex's sober nod. _Whatever blew up here, this Makimachi - somebody else in the DEA, somebody Sagara knows - is in it up to her neck. Oh, this is_ not _good._

"You know her better than that, Natasha-san."

_And where there is Sagara, there is Himura,_ Goren thought, not surprised. At least, not until he caught a glimpse of the bloodstains dotting the little redhead's clothing. _He was in this mess? And he's still standing? Not a shopkeeper anymore, not at all..._

"An impressionable young woman whose boyfriend turns out to be one of those we're trying to arrest?" Fury glittered in jade eyes. "No, I don't think I know her at all." Turning on her heel, Falconi stomped into the controlled chaos.

_This is going to be a very interesting story,_ Goren thought. _Let's see; if Sagara and Himura are here, then - ah._ That short shape with mussed hair hanging back in the shadows was undoubtedly Yahiko, and the tall elegance behind him had to be Megumi Takani, though from those bloodstains... _She was helping the paramedics?_

_Not just her,_ Goren realized, reevaluating what he could see of the DEA-associated bunch. _They all were. Which means - ha! Falconi wasn't first on the scene!_ He had to hide a grin. _And you just gave them to us? You may know drug investigation, but when it comes to homicide, you are definitely out of your league._

Which was a worrying thought all by itself. _Captain's got to know about this. Soon._

"And just where are you going, sir?" Smiling politely, Eames caught a brown-haired man in his thirties trying to creep out of sight.

"Um..."

"Tyler, Detectives Goren and Eames," Sano said, resigned. "Detectives, Tyler...?"

"Darrow," the guy in fashionable but somewhat stained club grunge sighed. "Hi."

"You know, that's interesting," Goren observed, taking out his notebook. "I kind of know why they're here, Mr. Darrow-"

"You, ah, do?"

_Yes,_ very _interesting._ "-But why are you here?" Goren went on, not missing a beat.

Tyler's mouth hung open a second; he swallowed, and smiled weakly. "Overactive curiosity. I used to be a reporter, and when Kenshin got, um, paged that was something was wrong, and it was cut off-" He shrugged.

"And Ms. Takani's here because you two are looking after her," Alex's smile could have cut glass, "and Yahiko's here because - well, it seems you think it's safer to bring him into a catastrophe like _this_ than leave him at home."

"Kind of makes me wonder who's after you," Goren observed, tapping his pencil with his thumb. "And... well," he nodded toward the blasted wall, "did they miss?"

For a long second, steel-blue eyes stared at them, stunned-

Then Kenshin shuddered, and violet jerked down, wide and desperate. "That wasn't... I didn't... Sano, we don't have _time_-"

"Any idea where?" Sano muttered.

"No. Not yet. I-" Violet glanced at the listening detectives, and Kenshin stopped talking.

"Any idea where _what?_" Alex pounced. "What happened here?"

Sano's mouth pressed into a hard line as he looked back at thinning smoke; then he muttered something rude and shook his head. "Kanryuu."

"Who has part ownership in the stock of Silver Systems," Goren noted.

"Say _what?_" Sano spit out his toothpick. "That's crazy! There isn't any stock-"

"Because it's a DEA front?" Alex smiled, chill and amused. "Funny. That's not what the corporate paperwork says."

_Darrow twitched,_ Goren thought, keeping a subtle eye on the ex-reporter. _Why? Did he not know he was dealing with a DEA agent? I grant you it's weird that Himura seems to have gotten scooped up into the agency whether he wants to or not..._

_"Kanryuu?"_ Sagara snarled. "_Let_ me see that-"

_Darrow's twitchy, Yahiko's confused, Takani's out-and-out furious, and Himura-_ Goren snuck a more intent look as Alex let Sagara snatch their paperwork. _Himura is_ thinking.

_Oh, this is going to be fun to watch._

"That... _bastard,_" Sagara bit out, flipping through pages. "That goddamned frippery drug-dealing homicidal - how the hell did he - oh, no way!" A stiff finger jabbed one page. "There is _no way_ we own that building, damn it!"

"Are you certain?" Kenshin's voice was level, quiet.

Sagara snorted. "I know you weren't keeping track of the address, Kenshin, but you brought home enough of the roof-" He winced, and shut up.

"Roof?" Alex said under her breath.

Acting before his nerves could talk him out of it, Goren darted forward to snatch at long red hair.

_"Itai!" _

_Wow, he's fast!_ But a flame-hued strand lingered in Goren's grasp, regardless. "I thought this looked familiar." He gave Himura a serious look. "Li Chi kept what you lost back there, you know. She said dragon's gifts bring luck. Yours seems to have brought a lot; that place could have burned down any time. And as for the people working there..." He shook his head. "Coroner's still working on the body from the basement. No cause of death yet, but I kind of doubt a teenage girl crawled down there to die."

"Body?" Yahiko said faintly.

Himura swallowed. "I was not in the basement, that I wasn't."

"The lab will tell us that." Alex crossed her arms. "But you were there."

"On your way to... pick up Ms. Takani," Goren said pleasantly. Turned a mild look on the lady in question. "From her old acquaintances."

Delicate fingers curled into fists.

"While about the same time, at your shop, Agent Falconi's people were attacked by person or persons unknown," Goren went on.

"Must have been a busy night," Alex said dryly.

"And here you are again," Goren shrugged, "serious assaults, possible homicides - and Kanryuu's name hidden in the paperwork tying this all together."

"I think we should take this downtown," Alex finished.

"What?" Yahiko yelped. "No way! You- mmph!"

Hand still over the teen's mouth, Sagara gave them a sour grin. "Sure. Why not? I love One Police Plaza in the evening. Don't you?" Shooing off the kid, the agent slanted a wry glance Darrow's way. "You meet such _interesting_ people."

_Wait a minute, he's stalling..._ Goren blinked, and whirled. "Hey!"

Caught yards away in broad daylight with a little brother tucked under his arm, Kenshin gave the detective an innocent smile. "Oro?"

"What- how did-" Alex sputtered.

"Forgive the inconvenience," the redhead bowed, "but there is much to be done, and very little time." His red shirt seemed to flicker, drawing shadows-

And he was gone.

---------

_Ow._

Consciousness seemed wrapped in a thick gray blanket, but the soreness of her neck made Kaoru wrinkle up her nose, trying a tentative shake of head to work out sleep-kinks-

_Ow! _

Kaoru tried to slap what had to be the great-grandmother of all mosquito bites, only to find her hand landing limp and sluggish on her shoulder.

_Oh great, somebody spiked my drink! If I find out who, they're dead-_

_Wait. I wasn't drinking._

_So... why is everything so foggy?_

Squinting closed eyes, Kaoru rewound the last things she could remember. Silver Systems, Holstein, Misao's out-of-the-blue comment on rings-

Then the lights had gone out.

_Literally,_ Kaoru thought wryly. _There was some kind of - smell of cat fur, and roaring._ She wriggled her hands a little, feeling an odd constriction around her wrists, and under that, a familiar soreness in arms and shoulders. _I hit something. A lot of somethings. And then-_

Blank.

_Wrists tied up, legs so numb I can't tell if they're tied or not, and the rest of me is about as ready to go as a limp noodle,_ Kaoru calculated. _I think we can say whatever happened in that blank was not good._

No more smell of cat fur here, though. Furniture polish. A little hint of cigar smoke. A musty taste to the air that told of leather-bound tomes, meant to impress rather than be read.

And there was a weird, almost subliminal _hum_ in the air, rising and falling with all the unsettling weight of a Gregorian chant.

"Pretending won't do you any good."

_I know that voice._ Kaoru cracked one eye open. Tears blurred her vision, but even in the dim light of this small study she could make out cat-slit eyes and venom-dark claws. _That, is a bad guy. Can I go home now?_

_And what_ is _that noise?_

Polished wood spun in the Rakshasa's grasp as he smirked. "You want this, don't you?"

_Beshimi, right, that's who Kenshin said he was._ Kaoru rolled her eyes. _Get over yourself,_ she tried to say. "Gelumph."

_Great. Whatever they've drugged me with, I can't talk straight, either. Ooo, I could just spit!_

A flutter of white caught her eye, and Kaoru strained a blurry gaze toward the corner behind her right shoulder. Most of her view was blocked by the overstuffed leather chair someone had dropped her into, but over polished black, if she strained her eyes _down_-

Misao was curled on a futon, braid trailing down her cheek, breath dimpling the ice-white comforter someone had tucked in around her.

_She's okay!_ Kaoru let out a relieved breath, before adding _Misao_ and _not tied up_ and coming to a sum that had nothing like _okay_ in it. _She looks like - like Beauty waiting for the Beast, or Lucy Westenra asleep... oough, and Ubo are vampires-_ "Gmph!"

Claws pricked their way over her cheek. "The Okashira won't like it if you disturb her," Beshimi breathed in her ear. "So-"

_Eek! That tickles!_

_Clunk._

Spots flashing across her vision, Kaoru had the dubious satisfaction of hearing Beshimi's groan through her ringing ears. _Dad always did say I had a head like a rock,_ she mused.

A door thumped open, and a faint scent of cat fur wafted into the room. "Hey, Beshimi, Han'nya wants - what the hell happened to you?"

Beshimi snarled something incomprehensible. "That little-"

"Hey, hey! Voice down." The most muscular, scarred man Kaoru had ever seen in her life stepped softly over to the futon, just watching Misao breathe. "Don't get a new clan member every day, you know."

"Nnn!" _I won't let you!_

The tender look slipped off the scarred face, replaced by a hardness that chilled Kaoru to the marrow. "Don't think you have anything to say about it," he said flatly, stalking over to her like a panther. "She's a Makimachi. Okashira wants her, he gets her."

_No,_ Kaoru thought dizzily, _not like a panther. Like a tiger; I remember the roars..._

But she swallowed her fear, and raised her aching head. "Have to... go through me first," she managed thickly.

"Don't think that'll be a problem," the were-tiger snorted. Looked her up and down, and smirked. "Though it looks like even tied up and drugged, you're too much for short stuff, here."

"Shikijou-!"

_Keep your gaze on a predator, you're challenging it, this is a_ bad _idea... the heck with it._ Kaoru gathered her courage, and locked blue eyes on feral brown. "I don't care how much bad news you think you are, or how evil Kanryuu thinks he is. Jin-e was worse. Kenshin stopped him."

"Funny you should mention that." Shikijou cocked an ear toward the chant as it seemed to crescendo, then-

Steel, ringing like a bell, louder and louder and _screaming-_

Silence.

"What do you think?" Beshimi muttered.

"Think we ought to see if Han'nya needs a hand with what's left of Smythe." A massive hand picked Kaoru up by her belt, and fangs glittered in his grin. "Besides... I bet somebody's just _dying_ to meet you again."

---------

Translations and info:

_Chikusho_ - "Damn it"; beastly.

_Clean and floss_ - cover up a death caused by supernatural means, make it look normal.

_Kinsucker_ - Stake term for Crowleys, or others who associate with Kin.

_Kunoichi_ - female ninja.


	11. Chapter 11

"I can get us inside."

Concealed with the rest of their small group in twilight shadows, studying the odd lights flickering at the penthouse windows above Kanryuu's corporate headquarters, Bobby Goren couldn't quite hold back a shiver. In all his years working homicides, he'd met dozens of people convinced they had no way out. This... this was different. The flatness of her voice, the utter loneliness in her eyes...

_Takani isn't seeing Kanryuu's penthouse. She's looking into Hell._

"You're a _witness_," Alex insisted. "You shouldn't be going anywhere near him! We can get a warrant-"

"Try it and you'll die." Megumi's voice was dry, matter-of-fact. "He's vanished cops before." Her dark glance fell on Sanosuke. "DEA agents, too."

Goren traded a slight flicker of eyes with his partner, glad they'd left Tyler cooling his heels back at the station once it was clear he wasn't going to change his story. No way did he want an ex-reporter hearing this.

"Yep," Sano nodded grimly. "Damn, I hope 'Sai was right about Uramura."

"'Sai?" Goren asked carefully. _He could mean the ninja sword-breaker, but - no. That sounds like a nickname. Someone we didn't see at the scene?_

"Um... long story..."

"Not so long."

Goren clamped down on the impulse to jump like a startled rabbit. The voice was cool. Controlled. Himura's.

And yet, not.

"Come an alley west," that level voice stated. "I've found a better vantage point."

_And a better vantage point includes fire escapes and ten-story rooftops,_ Goren thought, breathing a little hard as he made it onto the roof. "Yahiko."

"Oh, man..." The teen shot a glance past him toward Sanosuke. "Couldn't you leave them somewhere safe?"

Alex swung down onto the roof from the steel ladder. "Sounds like you're more worried about us than we are about you." She lifted a curious eyebrow.

Even in the shadows, Goren could see the kid redden. "_I'm_ not the idiot who's-" He clamped his mouth shut.

"Yahiko-kun has a point." A red brow arched in silent question.

"They've got a reputation for latching on like a pit bull," Sano shrugged. "I called in. We've got clearance." He shot them a purely wicked grin. "And if they can't handle it, I figured we'd leave 'em handcuffed up here."

"You'd _what?_" Alex said coldly.

Goren didn't move toward his gun, even though something about Himura stirred the hairs on the back of his neck. _Not the voice. Something about the eyes..._ "Kind of an odd place to meet for someone who has trouble with heights, isn't it?"

"I have never had trouble with heights, Goren-san."

_Amber. Not a trick of the light._ Detective Goren drew in a slow breath, adding tone and eyes and stance- "You're not Kenshin."

"No." A cool, quiet smile; the slight man before them bowed, formal as a Japanese patriarch. _"I am pleased to meet you again, Detective Goren; though you did not know me in the hour of our first meeting. The name I bear in these streets of steel and blood is_ Battousai; _it serves well enough."_

_He knows I speak Japanese,_ Goren realized, watching those knowing amber eyes. _Damn, they do good research._

"Bobby?" Alex said in an undertone. "Unless we're looking at someone's evil twin here-"

"You're an alternate personality," Goren said steadily. A wry smile touched his face. "So Kenshin really was innocent, all along."

"Well, of course he was - hey, wait a minute!" Yahiko's hands fisted. "You're acting like Battousai did something wrong!"

"Easy, young one. They don't quite understand, yet." Battousai ruffled dark hair, lifted his gaze to meet the detective's once more. "You have pieces of the whole, Goren-san, but the world is not quite as you think it. I have been within Kenshin for almost a fortnight, now; yet I have been Sanosuke's partner for years. As I have worked for the agency Sanosuke serves - _not_ the agency you think - for almost a century."

Which was so far beyond crazy it was almost funny. Goren didn't even bother looking at his partner, just slanted a disbelieving look Sagara's way-

The agent wasn't laughing.

_And neither is Takani,_ Goren realized with a sudden sinking feeling. It was one thing for a kid brother to be caught up in an alternate personality's delusions; but for a purely unrelated woman who'd had enough guts and sense to run from Kanryuu...

"I do," Battousai said quietly, almost gently, "have proof. If you are willing." He held out his right hand, palm up. "Take my hand, and look at me."

Goren cast his partner a blink. _Well?_

A minuscule head-shake told him _no;_ she'd take the risk, and depend on him to fire if something went dead wrong. Shoulders back, Alex slapped her palm down on Battousai's.

And paled.

"Alex!"

She stumbled back, staring, hand an inch from reaching for her firearm. "What the _hell_ are you?"

_What?_ Goren blinked. An evidently violent alter self was a shock to see, yes, but all that was there was a short redhead with a red shirt and off-white pants...

_And a sword._

Twilight seemed to clear and darken at once, red and white shifting, looser-

A redheaded ronin met his gaze, amber sardonic and amused. "So." Claws flexed, and drifted back to the blade at his side as Battousai made a second, slightly deeper bow. "Welcome to the NightLife."

---------

"I'm _not_ staying behind!"

Kenshin stared into his little brother's desperate face, trying to still his hammering heart. "Yahiko..." If he could only find that balance he'd held with Battousai again, just for a minute-!

:_I've been trying!_: Frustration, and no little fear, shivering from the steel at his side. :_It slips away like smoke into the sky..._:

_The smoke of a cremation._ Kenshin tried not to shudder. "They'll have guns, Yahiko."

The teen gulped, but looked up at him, brown eyes defiant. "Kaoru's in there."

_Yes. She is._ He could sense her angry, determined ki, even through the Oniwabanshuu's illusions. Which argued it was likely they were _letting_ him sense her...

"In or out, finish it up quick," Sano said in an undertone as they circled the building toward the freight entrance. "Megumi's on her way, and if the code bits Uramura dropped me are right, when they _really_ show up, they're coming in armed for were-bear." He shot Kenshin a look. "And we _ought_ to be."

Kenshin shook his head, determined not to miss the weight of daisho. There was something _wrong_ in the Oniwabanshuu's actions; something that cut against all he knew of them from Kyoto. _A century is time enough to change even the foremost ninja of the Kin. And yet... if they truly wished to start a war between New York's Kin and Target Alpha, they could so easily have done it without implicating themselves at all. _

Sano puffed out a frustrated breath. "Damn it, they killed our people! We know it's a trap!"

"It is," Kenshin inclined his head. "And those deaths may _be_ the trap."

"Oh kami," the agent groaned, "Zen's bad enough from Battousai, not you too..."

"Never react as your enemy predicts," Kenshin said firmly. "They expect us to grant them war. Until I know _why_ - I will not give it to them, that I won't." He touched the sakabatou, feeling oddly calmer. "We go to rescue, not to slay."

"Yeah, maybe." Sano shrugged, then snickered darkly. "Nice touch with the bug, leaving it where it could pick up Natasha's plan."

"We can't count on it fooling them," Kenshin said numbly, finger tracing the tsuba. _Were. Sano._ "They're ninja, they'll be prepared for deception." _I don't want to do this._

:_I know._:

"Sano. Stay still."

"Say wha- ow!"

_Dizzy. Falling-_

:_Hold. You are mine. You have the strength. You_ will _hold._:

He was leaning against a hand. And the hand was attached to a body, which held a stubborn, angry ki, which was _his,_ fiercely as any dragon claimed a golden hoard-

A ragged breath, and the competing pulls in his soul came to a rough balance; one near and coveted, one as precious, but more distant, and one...

Valued. To be protected. But not as heart-rendingly _close_ as the others.

:_Gensai's right, it seems,_: Battousai mused. :_You're far more resistant than the others under my wing._:

"The heck?" Sano managed, tearing his eyes from the new scar on his hand. "'Sai?"

A cool chuckle. :_Who else?_:

"He enjoys that," Kenshin said faintly. Braced himself, and stepped away, eyes on the pair of Beijing guards on the concrete loading dock, playing dice in the dim pool of light reflecting off the steel garage door. _They'll have to go down first. And silently-_

"We should-" Sano started.

_Ryuu Tsui Sen!_

The downward blow took out the diceless Beijing; his partner was still rattling cubes in hand as the upstroke caught him in the underside of the jaw, dropping him like a flour sack.

"-Wait for Uramura... why do I even bother...?"

"Uramura, too, wants war," Kenshin said grimly. "I will not give it to them, Sano. Whatever Kanryuu wants, he _will_ not have."

Yahiko gulped. "But - if it's just us, how are we going to-?" He waved a hand up at the bulk of the tower.

"Without numbers, it's speed." Kenshin scanned the garage door, eyeing overlapped steel. "We break the door and run."

---------

"Welcome home, Megumi." Seated in his overstuffed chair, Kanryuu smirked across the study rug.

_I want to faint,_ the Witch thought dizzily, barely aware of the two detectives flanking her, studying Kanryuu like a new species of flesh-eating beetle. _I want to scream._

_"Believe we will come for you, Megumi-san." _

A quick smile of violet eyes. A glimmer of red in New York's half-lit night. The memory of that same scarlet tangled with pink insulation, after its bearer had chased her captors halfway across the island.

It was enough.

"I knew you'd come back," Kanryuu shrugged lazily. "Where else have you to go?"

_Where else, indeed? _

"Our stock of Spider's Web is almost out." The businessman nudged his glasses up, eyes calculating. "You _will_ make more, won't you?"

Detective Eames sucked in a quick breath, but didn't flinch.

_So. Now you know._ "Let Kamiya go," Megumi forced out. "She's nothing to you."

"Hmm... no." Kanryuu smiled broadly, standing. "After all, she tried to win my little goose away - and we can't have that, now can we?"

"So you know where Ms. Kamiya is." Detective Eames' hand started to move.

Kanryuu _tch_ed. "I wouldn't bother."

Shadows blurred; Shinomori's pale hands closed over Eames' wrists, while Goren choked and went limp in Han'nya's metal talons.

"Though I suppose I can't blame you for trying," Kanryuu mused, casually turning his back on them to stride toward the frozen Witch. "After all, security of my quality commands a very high price... and I only _need_ Megumi."

"NYPD... won't stop 'til they find us," Goren managed, face pale as Han'nya's grip sucked his life-energy away.

"Well, of course not!" Amusement glittered behind Kanryuu's glasses as he caressed Megumi's cheek. "In fact, I'm counting on it. Kin and Target Alpha and the unknowing human world, all destined to collide in blood - it quite gives me shivers of anticipation. Oh, the _profits_ to be made..." He chuckled. "Thank you _so_ very much for bringing them, my darling. The pieces are all finally in place-"

_Now!_

He shrieked like a little girl; it almost made her laugh, as he jumped back, blood spurting from her slash to his shoulder.

_Move! Eames is buying you time, but Shinomori's fast-_ "I said I'd rather die than return," Megumi said grimly, circling the chair he threw into her path. The rune-scribed long knife glimmered at the edge of her vision, beautiful and deadly. "No longer will others' lives keep me alive." She mustered the magic within her for the spell that would grant her enhanced reflexes; just enough for one inhumanly swift, lethal blow. "We're falling to hell together."

A blur, a tug-

Her empty fist thudded against Kanryuu's bloody suit.

_No!_

"Enchanted to be invisible to Kin." Holding her weapon by the blade, Aoshi sniffed it with cool interest. Behind him, Eames struggled furiously on the floor, gagged with a white handkerchief and bound in her own cuffs. "But one can still catch the scent of blood."

The brutal punch wasn't - quite - a surprise.

"Wretch!" hissed in Megumi's ears as her knees hit the Persian rug. "Your _flamen_ defied me, too - and that's when things went wrong! So I treated you well, and kindly; and this is what I get in return? How _dare_ you!"

Pain. Sparks flying through her vision. Threads of carpet, abrading her bloody cheek.

"'If the bird will not sing, kill it.' And you'll have to sing so very, very well for me," Kanryuu snarled. "Because while I might very much _like_ your incantation for Spider's Web... I don't truly need it anymore."

_What?_

A gloved hand caressed her brow; Megumi couldn't suppress a shudder. "You were with those blind fools from Target Alpha, weren't you?" Kanryuu crooned. "You know what we won from them." A brutal shake. "Say it!"

"A killing blade," Megumi gulped, mind whirling with confusion.

"The assassin Kurogasa. The blood-soaked blade Jin-e, who shattered the souls of men even as he cut them down." He laughed, sharp and short. "Yes... you _should_ see what happened to Jin-e, my little bird. And then you can stop dreaming of rescue. Ever."

---------

_Don't look._ Face stinging like ice from the most recent prick of enemy steel, eyes half-closed as she tried not to watch her Beijing tormentor, Kaoru traced her thumb along the knots binding her wrists. Smoke tainted the air, rising from runes burned into the polished wood floor and the still-smoldering body in the far corner of Kanryuu's conservatory. Other scents were slowly seeping out to join it, from the shredded form of the only Beijing who'd refused to touch the ebony box of hungry steel thorns. Her stomach churned. _Don't look. Not at the body. Not at the blood painted over the floor. Don't think about what happened here. Because if you think, you'll start screaming, and then nobody's going to help Misao..._

_I'm not going out like that. I_ won't. _Which means I've got to get past this knot!_

Kaoru drew a subtle breath, reaching for stillness. Rope was only rope. A swordsman's mind was steel. She _would _not give up. _If the cord goes that way, and then_ that _way, and under like that... It sure feels like a samurai knot._

Which was both good news and bad news. Good, in that she had a decent idea how it might untie. Bad, in that this kind of knot was designed to hold prisoners of war hell-bent on escape.

_Details, details... ow!_

She couldn't really see it from this angle, but prior wounds this idiot had made on her hands gave Kaoru a good idea what was happening. A poisonous spark of green was being driven to the surface of her wound, swarmed and cast out by angry amber, leaving only a drying spot of blood to mar her soul.

_I'm so tired..._

The crew-cut gang member growled, eyes aglow with an inhuman hint of ruby, flourishing the evil steel thorn a hair's breadth in front of her nose. "Why can't we drink you?"

_Like I'd tell you. Even if I knew._ Though Kaoru had a sinking feeling she _did_ know. Every prick had carried a faint shadow of Jin-e's soul-chilling cut - and every rush of amber, the warmth of Battousai's protective arms.

But the warmth was fading.

_Whatever Kenshin's left me with, it's drawing off_ me Kaoru concluded, fighting the bone-deep weariness to scan the room once more. This Beijing had been the most persistent, but there were a half a dozen of his buddies a few yards away, checking over their newly improved weapons, and it'd only be a matter of time before they decided they wanted to let their thorns taste her again. _If I don't get loose soon..._

Spitting an angry Cantonese curse at her, her torturer slapped the steel thorn against the grip of his gun, a smirk curling his lips as he watched steel melt into steel. "Let's go."

"And leave her alone?" a shaggy-haired younger one objected, moving as if to pick up his dead comrade's gun, dropped casually on the floor by the thorn meant for the dead man.

"She's not going anywhere." It might have been a trick of the light, but the crew-cut's teeth looked too sharp to be human. "And there's someone to fight downstairs. I can feel it."

Laughing, they swept out of the room.

"The hyena pack has left the building," Kaoru muttered under her breath. Cast another glance at the charred corpse in the corner. _Was that - no. Just a curl of smoke. I hope._ Sorcerers _would_ revive after being killed, according to Dr. Gensai, just like any other Kin. But not until sunset.

_And since like all Kin they wake up starving... if that's not smoke, I'm toast._

Battousai's protection might hold against another Muramasa blade; after all, it had for Sano. Against another Kin? Not likely.

Steel whispered over steel.

Kaoru froze, looking at the ebony box in the center of scribed runes. _No way._

Overhead light cast back a dark glint that hadn't been there a moment ago. As if steel thorns had somehow mounded just a little closer to the rim of black wood.

And the thorn on the floor was just a little closer to the gun.

_Oh hell. Those things are_ moving.

_Breathe. In. Out. Keep working on the damn rope..._

Long minutes passed. Steel never moved while she was watching - but every blink, the thorn had crept closer to the pistol-grip. Sweating, Kaoru kept her eyes on it as her questing fingers poked and prodded. She felt a strand grudgingly start to slide...

The conservatory doors slammed open. Startled, Kaoru jerked on the cord-

_Damn it, no!_

Knot tight once more, Kaoru saw dark hair tumble to the floor, battered and bloody. "Megumi!"

"Oh, how sweet," Kanryuu snickered, as Han'nya tossed a pale Goren near the center of the room and an expressionless Shinomori unceremoniously dropped a gagged Eames to the floor. "She really cares."

_So much for the cops,_ Kaoru thought, resigned. _Gods... I could really start to hate this guy._ "I hope your rent-a-thugs _eat_ you," she fumed.

"Touching." He _tch_ed, looking over the bloody body on the floor as most would picnic leftovers. "Were they full? Or did they leave you for-" he chuckled, "-dessert?"

"Looks like I don't agree with them," Kaoru fired back. "Lucky for you. Sano's going to open up the Empire State Building just to drop-kick you off the top of it."

"Sagara?" Kanryuu affected surprise. "Not your little lover?"

"Kenshin's not my lover!" _Yet, anyway._ She swallowed hard, and glared with all her might. "And Battousai will just kill you."

Another regretful tongue-click. "It might find that just a _little_ more difficult than that."

"It?" Goren muttered from the floor, wobbling hands trying to push him up as he stared at shredded flesh. "What did you do to this guy?"

"Herd. So _ignorant,_" Kanryuu sighed. "He fed Jin-e, of course. Or should I say, he fed my men through what's left of Jin-e." A sardonic glance fell on the crispy Sorcerer. "Poor Smythe. Knew his spellwork, oh yes - but the pure power in a Muramasa blade? He had _no_ idea." He tapped his glasses. "I did, of course. I've known for years. All planning for this moment..."

_"Ji-uh um gmph?!?"_

Goren's glance flicked to his partner, full of dark humor. "Looks like it." Drained, blinking in and out of consciousness, he still gave a soundless laugh. "I have to hand it to you, Kanryuu. Talk about getting one over on the cops! Even if we'd caught the guy... the _real_ killer would have gotten locked up in Evidence." He managed a shrug. "And, well, we all know things disappear out of Evidence..."

"Don't bother." Aoshi's voice was cool, unimpressed; though blue-violet glittered on his hand as he made a subtle move Kaoru's eyes picked out as palming something from a hidden pocket.

_Misao's right; he is wearing a ring,_ the kendo instructor thought, recalling a bit more of those last few minutes before the lab had gone dark. _Lousy idea for a martial artist. Especially a ninja. Doesn't make any sense-_

_Which is what Misao was trying to tell me._

_Why?_

"We've done our research on you as well as Battousai, Detective," Aoshi went on. "You won't talk your way out of death this time."

"Hmm, but it's so much fun to listen to him _try_." Tugging slightly on his glove, Kanryuu stepped over to the gun on the floor, where a thorn had finally reached its goal, wriggling into the grip like a steel leech. A wave of malevolence seemed to wash over the room; Kaoru shivered.

Weighing the weapon in his hand, Kanryuu chuckled, and held it by two gloved fingers within easy reach of a quick grab. "I've heard you're a fair shot, Detective. What do you think?" His voice dropped, a low, smug whisper. "Can you kill us all?"

"Don't!" Kaoru blurted. "Don't let it touch you!"

Half-tensed, Goren blinked, and shot her an incredulous look.

"Don't," Kaoru whispered, jerking her head toward the bloody wreck on the floor. "Do you want to do that to us? To your own partner?"

Pale, Goren recoiled from steel.

"Tch. Pitiful." Kanryuu stepped away, waving a scolding finger in her face. "It's not nice to steal my fun, Kaoru-_chan_."

"I'll watch you bounce," Kaoru said flatly. "I had Jin-e in my head once, you bastard. Do you think I'd let you do that to anyone else?" _No matter what it costs me._ "How could you do that to your own people?"

"Money," Goren said softly, looking over blood-drained flesh, the ebony box of steel, the black-gleaming gun in Kanryuu's gloved hand. "He wants a profit. And the only thing that pays better than Takani's sideline... is arms dealing."

"Yes indeed! You are worthy of your job, aren't you?" Kanryuu chuckled, delighted. "Drug dealing is profitable, but - hmm - carries such _unnecessary_ risks. Dealing in death pays far, far better... and I've had the perfect product in mind for _years_. Weapons that can let a mere _Herd_ match any Edge Kin bear; that can cut through Virus as if it were simple flesh and bone. That can make the most craven person pick up a gun as if he were a born killer; make him long to fight, to kill..." He smiled at the gun, nestled it into the nest of thorns, and stepped back, dusting off his hands. "Addictive weapons. What could be better?"

Kaoru felt her stomach roil, envisioning a wave of blood and pain, as thorn-laced guns passed from hand to hand like a demonic contagion of violence. "Target Alpha will stop you!"

"Oh, my dear, foolish little girl..." Behind glass, Kanryuu's eyes creased in vindictive glee. "They'll be my best customers."

Words dried on her tongue. _No, that's crazy, that's impossible - maybe they're not the best guys out there, but they_ stop _Kin from hurting humans, they wouldn't-_

"They won't have a choice," Kanryuu went on, as if explaining to a particularly slow child. "Virus isn't going away, after all. Far less Red Moonrise, and Black Solstice, and - well, a host of other groups I'm sure you haven't met. Yet. They would have killed you if you had; you're just a _Herd,_ after all. So many, many Kin willing to do harm, and only Target Alpha and the frail forces of the Commune to cover it up... sooner or later the truth will come out." A chuckle. "Well, make that sooner. After all, at this very moment Target Alpha is trying to bury any evidence of what happened at their little lab today - but it's on record that two of the NYPD's finest investigating officers were there, asking questions. And when those same investigators turn up here, dead in ways no human can explain..."

_"Mmph mraugh!"_

"Now, now; name-calling won't make me change my mind, Detective Eames." Kanryuu rubbed his hands together. "You'd like one of my thorns now, wouldn't you? Think you could handle it, just long enough to kill me?" He _tch_ed. "Of course you do. Humans will pay any price to feel safe. Any price at all."

Sick at heart, Kaoru still found her eyes drawn to Kanryuu's glance toward Aoshi. _It's like he has some kind of inside joke going. A really, really evil one._ "Not any price," she breathed.

"Oh, throw those stones, do," Kanryuu mock-pouted. "Here I am with my little thorns, and you nest with the whole rosebush. How _do_ you live with yourself, I wonder?"

"You..." Kaoru stumbled over the heart-stopping thought, let the conclusion tumble off her tongue, "you _broke_ Jin-e?"

"Improved," Kanryuu smirked.

"A soul-wracking spell." Megumi raised herself on trembling arms, face pale as she studied the seared runes. "Mingled with containment, and geometric doubling... you didn't kill the demon, you fragmented it." She shook her head. "That shouldn't have worked."

"With a demon? No. But Muramasa blades seem to have some interesting... hmm, almost _viral_ qualities, wouldn't you say? Spreading violence from bearer to bearer, even to those only wounded by the blade, if the spirit doesn't choose to jump bodies. And legend says that if you're unlucky enough to have a splinter of steel lodge within your flesh, a new demon will be born. I knew it would work." He gazed at the box of thorns with a proprietary air. "But to make them, I needed funds; Muramasa blades are notoriously paranoid, and Target Alpha's Triborough division is so _proud_ of being incorruptible. And your coven discovered such a perfect way to get them."

"_You_ hired Jin-e," Kaoru breathed.

"Kill some rivals, gain what I needed for the prototype - two birds with one stone, so efficient! And I'd _almost_ convinced Jin-e to come into ambush before your little boyfriend interfered," Kanryuu said regretfully. "Ah well. Spilled milk."

Kaoru went red. "I told you, he's not my boyfriend!"

"Pity. But I suppose he could do better than a plain little girl." Kanryuu bent to stroke hair away from Megumi's bruises, tugging on it to make her look him in the eye. "Is that where you found that foolish courage, my darling? Did you look at a killer, and feel there was someone tainted enough to love you?"

Whatever Megumi hissed in Japanese made Kanryuu flush, Goren gape, and Aoshi raise one surprised brow.

"Bitch!" The arms dealer smashed her back to the floor.

_It's not just money,_ Kaoru knew in that moment. _He likes to hurt people. To use them. To_ make _them hurt each other; it's just a game to him..._

_Misao loves Aoshi. She was sure he'd never hurt her. _

_She was sure he'd never wear a ring. _

_That bastard!_

"No one cheats me out of what's mine. Least of all _you._ Call my men!" Kanryuu snarled, shaking the sting out of his hand. "We'll torture the spell out of her!"

"They're busy."

_"What?"_

Tired as she was, Kaoru could have sworn the faintest hint of a _smile_ crossed the Okashira's face. Silent as snowfall, the Ubo touched a subtle button on the observatory wall, setting a discreet intercom to _on_. "Listen and you'll understand."

Emergency whistles. Screams of shattered metal. Panic-stricken yells.

"The sword you sought," Shinomori said evenly, "is here."

Kanryuu gaped. "But Target Alpha's not planning to attack-"

"For another hour?" Cool amusement glimmered in emerald eyes. "The Demon of Kyoto. The greatest of revolutionaries. _The_ Hitokiri Battousai. And you thought he'd dance to Falconi's tune?"

Goren's head lifted at that last. "He's... an assassin?"

"Just another Muramasa blade," Kanryuu snarled. And smirked, equilibrium restored. "He'll be as profitable as Jin-e."

"Only if he is taken," Aoshi observed. "And for that, he must fight on ground of our choosing." Cool emerald touched Kaoru's gaze. "Lover or not, he is coming for you. Though with Han'nya's enchantment on you, he cannot know you live."

"Okashira?" the Animate muttered.

_He's lying!_ Kaoru tried to keep her face blank, thoughts racing. _Kenshin knew when Jin-e "killed" Sano - and the thorns didn't get everything Battousai left me. He_ knows _I'm alive..._

"All he knows is that one from Target Alpha is here, and that could well be Misao." Aoshi's fingers danced across the intercom, ring casting back angry blue-violet glints. "We should change that."

Smashing. Metal ringing. Howls of pain and fury.

_"Heads up, up, up!"_ Sano's voice snarled out of the speaker. _"Look out - or get hurt!"_

"Kenshin," Kaoru breathed.

_"Kaoru-dono?"_

_Oh yeah. He's wired like a mouse in a coffee factory._ Kaoru fisted angry fingers, and gulped in a breath. "Kenshin - _Aoshi's wearing a ring!_"

The Okashira's fist slammed through the speaker.

Kaoru tried not to look too hard at Megumi, as the Witch cupped her hands over bloodied, ringing ears. _Sorry... but look at them!_ Aoshi's face - perfectly blank. Han'nya's, masked confusion. Kanryuu's...

Purpling. Slow and furious.

_It is important! I knew it! Oh, when Kenshin catches up with you-_

"Kill her," Kanryuu hissed.

_Eep!_

"That would hurt Misao," the Okashira said softly, removing untouched fingers from sparking circuits. "No."

_"What?"_

"You've invited in a guest." A thin smile bent Aoshi's lips as he looked over sputtering arms dealer and frowning Animate. "We should greet him."

---------

_Best. Summer vacation. Ever._

He wasn't really a _violent_ person, Yahiko took pains to remind himself whenever they had a second to breathe between bad guys. He was a pretty good student. Determined to help out where he could in the family business. Totally sure of his commitment to Kamiya Kasshin kendo, that emphasized the study of the sword to strengthen the body and revitalize the spirit.

But there was just a hard knot in the back of his mind, clumped together from the accident, Kenshin's bloody night with Tomoe, and all the past year of _Mom and Dad are gone-_

And every time they left bodies slumped and groaning behind them, that knot seemed a little looser.

_Like the school shrink said,_ Yahiko slipped under a Beijing's swung chain, took out a kneecap before Sano's fist put the shrieking man down permanently, _I got a lot of frustrations that need a proper outlet._

"That's the lightweights down," Sano panted, glancing about the mess they'd made of what had been a typical eighth-floor office setup: one open span wide as a castle courtyard, now laced with shattered gray cubicle walls, split water coolers, and a good two dozen unconscious thugs. "If Megumi's right, we're still short at least half a dozen of these guys, not to mention the ninjas- _Down!_"

He hit the floor with Sano, hair standing up at the flat _crack_ of gunfire.

Red blurred ahead.

_"Gyaaah!" _

Yahiko winced, now recognizing the kind of crunch that meant bones breaking. _Least they've stopped shooting..._

"Sano, help, now!"

"Say what?" Sano poked his head up. "You hit 'em!"

"And they don't seem to have noticed much," the redhead snarled back, steel blurring as he stopped aiming for skulls and kidneys and started breaking arms. "Kami, it's like trying to fight _you_ without killing you!"

"Like-? Hell. Stay _down,_" Sano ordered, charging into the bloodied pack.

_Yeah, right._ Yahiko rolled his eyes, scooting along closer to the action. The Beijings were finding it hard to shoot with useless gun hands, but they weren't slowing down - and was that a pop of bone back into place, just before one grabbed for his gun again with fingers that shouldn't have worked?

Steel sang; that one had just enough time to hiss, tendons severed and nerveless, before an iron sheath smashed his temple.

_Kaoru says - hit someone there, you can kill them... and Kenshin's a_ lot _stronger than he used to be._ Yahiko gulped, feeling ill. Kenshin was taking off the kid gloves, and something about these guys gave him chills down to the bone.

_Virus?_

No. He'd know that deadly sense of emptiness again, he was sure. No, these guys were human...

_Sort of,_ Yahiko amended, noting that the guy with the cracked skull was still breathing. Which he _shouldn't_ have been. _What did Kenshin mean, like fighting Sano? Sano's human-_

_Sano's marked. Like I am. _

_Golgotha said Battousai's letting me_ lean _on him, just a little. Which means Sano probably does too. And Sano told me Battousai didn't like to spar with most humans, they were too fragile... but Sano could take it._

_Are these guys... leaning on someone?_

_But there isn't anybody else like Battousai out there! The only other Muramasa blade in New York is-_

Yahiko froze, then _moved;_ beyond thought, beyond reason, only feeling that deadly aura that had stolen any sense of sanity from his world, that had taken Kaoru and hurt Sano and driven his brother into choosing a blood-soaked blade.

Crazy as it was, Jin-e was _here,_ and bullets didn't matter against the need to _get to Kenshin-_

Ice stabbed his neck, and Yahiko yelped, struggling against crushing arms.

"Drop it, Battousai!"

"So." Stepping out of the knot of groaning bodies, some of which Sano was still pounding, Kenshin sheathed his blade. "The weapon may have changed, but the ki is unmistakable... Jin-e Udo."

_No no no, damn it, we watch the same cop shows!_ Yahiko thought furiously, feeling red warmth trickle down into his collar as he clawed at the wrist holding sharp steel in his neck. Icy steel, like acid; he had to catch his breath at a sudden wash of pure rage, as if nothing in the world mattered as much as killing this creature that had dared to draw his blood. _Never drop your weapon just 'cause he takes a hostage!_

"Keep that right hand where I can see it," his captor sneered. "Jin-e? Not a chance. I just... know a few things."

"And all it cost you was your humanity." Red hair shifted slightly, steel-blue eyes weighing the Beijing. "No... you are not quite Kin, that you aren't. Even with a shard of Jin-e gnawing at your heart, you still have time to choose again." His voice dropped, low and chill. "Put him down. Put down that tainted steel that eats your soul. And _go away_."

The world went _loud_ - then silent.

_Sano!_ Stunned by the flatness of sound in his ringing ears, Yahiko could only watch the agent teeter, blood welling from his side.

"Ha! You're not Battousai," the shooter spat, finger flexing near the trigger. "Battousai would have known I was going to shoot-"

Red whirled. Yahiko caught an impression of a right hand out and empty, deliberately drawing the Beijing's eye...

As the left hand seized the saya, spin adding centrifugal force as the thumb freed steel in one keening whirl-

_Kannng! _

The arm around Yahiko went limp. He had just enough wits to wriggle out of it, before his captor went down like a lightning-struck pine.

"_Hiten Mitsurugi Battoujutsu, Hiryuusen._ Flying Dragon Flash." Red hair loose around his face, the swordsman walked over to pick up his flung sword. "_Jin-e_ would have known better than to allow me to sheathe my blade." Amber gleamed as he tucked the sakabatou back into his obi. "Are you well?"

"You..." Yahiko gestured wordlessly at his own hair.

"Ah." A wry smile, and Battousai tossed back loose scarlet. "_Aa,_ it's useful - but very hard on hair ties." One brow lifted, silently demanding an answer.

"My ears hurt," the teen admitted in a small voice. "But Sano..."

"Bastard had lousy aim," the agent gritted out, hand pressing on the red stain. "Hit him a few more times, okay? These guys don't seem to know how to stay down."

"Likely wise," the sword-spirit muttered. "Don't look."

_No problem,_ Yahiko thought queasily, listening to still oddly flat crunches and crackles as his brother went about separating their opponents from consciousness. _Oh, I hurt everywhere... and my ears..._

"Ease up on the worrying, kid." Sano managed a sweaty grin. "Nice thing about working for Target Alpha, you got a heck of a health plan. Couple curing spells, and things'll sound just fine." He gave a breathless laugh. "Heck, just one, and you realize how loud New York really is."

"I-" _I want to go home now,_ Yahiko shivered. He didn't know where that cold fury had come from, or where it had vanished once the threat was gone. But it had been there, and real, and if he'd been in a position to sink his teeth into a vulnerable throat-

Suddenly panicked, he tongued his canines. _Please no, he's my brother, yeah, but please no..._

Teeth. Just teeth.

Yahiko let out a sharp breath of relief. _I really, really want to go home now._ His fists clenched. _But not without Kaoru! And Megumi, too; and Misao, if we can find her,_ he added belatedly, _even if she is a hyperactive weasel-girl._

"Don't touch that!"

Yahiko blinked, seeing Sano's hand stop just short of one of the fallen guns. "Say what?" the agent asked, in a near-polite snarl. "You don't leave guys like this armed. I don't care how out-cold they are."

"You're _wounded._" Claws flexed and clenched, as Battousai glared at fallen steel. "Don't let your blood feed it."

"...The hell?" Sano managed.

_Shing! _

The sheared magazine spilled black powder and copper rounds to the floor; something black and metallic squirmed-

Battousai snatched it. And hissed.

Yahiko gulped, watching a sickly green flame wreathe the black steel thorn in the sword-spirit's grip. A thin amber light seemed to gather about it, sparking and burning-

"Back!"

Sano grabbed Yahiko by the collar and dragged them both back, as Battousai hurled the poisoned steel up, drew and flipped his blade-

_"Zantetsu!" _

The concussion blew them both off their feet.

Picking bits of computer paper off his face, Yahiko watched sparkling trails of dust wink out. "_That_ was Jin-e?"

Panting, amber closed; opened again, weary violet. "A piece of him, _hai._ Oh kami... there are so many more..."

"We tie them and leave them," Sano said grimly. Glared at the redhead before he could protest. "Don't. Don't even start. I can see what that took out of you. And we haven't even hit the ninja yet."

White-faced, Kenshin nodded. Accepted the plastic ties Sano tossed, and gave his brother a desperate look.

_Right. I'm on it._ "You need help, rooster-head, you better sing out," Yahiko said under his breath as Kenshin started binding groaning thugs. "He's got to get to Kaoru. He's _got_ to. So don't you dare bleed out and get yourself killed just 'cause he can't turn around."

"Hey, I know how to dodge. It's a graze. I've had worse." Sano winced. "What do you mean, _has_ to?"

Yahiko opened and closed his mouth, shook his head. How could he explain what he could only feel? That endless instant when steel and scales had seen, and known, and breathed a silent promise that everything he was, was and would ever be treasured and protected?

Sano touched the thin scar on Yahiko's neck, glanced down at the matching one on his own hand. "Kuso," he breathed. "Ward died because..."

"Because I had to protect you."

Yahiko started, hearing something odd in that familiar voice. Chill, and yet...

Violet regarded them both, amber glinting in it like embers in a banked fire. "You are my friend, Sano. What good are all the nights of eternity, without other hearts to share them?" A soft sigh; some of the amber flickered out. "But I am not Ward. I will not fight Battousai; not in this. He cannot stand by while those in his charge are in peril... and neither will I." Red hair tilted. "Are we ready?"

"Hang on." Sano took one more tie out of his pocket, planted his hand on top of the flow of scarlet. "You can't fight with all this in your face."

Red burning over his cheekbones, Kenshin let the agent tie his hair back. "Oro..."

"Don't mention it." Sano dropped them both a wink. "So. What say we go roust us some bad guys?"

Dredging up a grin, Yahiko gripped his bokken and scampered in their wake, heading for the elevator.

The _descending_ elevator.

_Oh man... not more of these guys..._

A ding, and the doors opened, revealing a trio of mean, greasy-haired guys armed with-

_Mops?!?_

"-And don't forget to get under the head honcho's desk this time, Bernardo," the hefty guy at the front grumped, not even looking before he stepped out. "If the VP's not happy, the company's not happy, and that means I'm not happy-" He turned, and his jaw dropped. "What the f-"

"Who the hell are you?" Sano snapped.

"Um... we are the cleaning crew?" one of the less shell-shocked guys in the back managed. "Who are you?"

"INS. This is a raid," Sano snarled. Glared at the sharp gulps, the sudden stammering excuses from the crew leader. "We want the head guys; punch that button for down and you won't get caught in the sweep."

_"Gracias, muchas gracias-"_

"Get outta here," Sano growled. "And quit laughing!"

Shaking with silent giggles, Kenshin waved a helpless hand. "Bye," he managed.

Sano waited until the doors slid closed, then gave the redhead a _look_.

Snickering, Kenshin shrugged. "INS?"

"Worked, didn't it?"

Yahiko rolled his eyes - and stopped, caught by a discreet black diagram set on a brass plaque near the obligatory fire extinguisher. "Hey, guys!"

"We-ell." Sano's grin was distinctly toothy as he scanned the layout. "Score one for New York fire codes."

"Another staircase," Kenshin nodded. "Let's go!"

---------

Translations and info:

_Flamen_ - male leader of a coven.

_Tsuba_ - hilt-guard.

_Zantetsu_ - iron cutting.


	12. Chapter 12

:_Human paramilitary organization_ NYPD _has accessed deceptive title files. Created property link Silver Systems/ Kanryuu/ illicit Chinatown activities has been accepted as valid._:

:_Investigators Goren, Robert and Eames, Alexandrea assigned to investigate Silver Systems/ Kanryuu link._:

:_Investigators, target Takani, Megumi, and known Battousai contact Kamiya, Kaoru now in custody of Takeda, Kanryuu._:

:_Odds of investigator survival: 0.01._:

:_Odds of Kamiya, Kaoru survival: Unknown. Mitigating factor: known combat skills, capable of assaulting Virus. Detracting factor: Opponents Kin subgroup Oniwabanshuu. Factor of uncertainty necessary due to close association with enemy unit Battousai. (Further information in subfile: Himura, Kenshin. Relevant comment: apparent difference in Kin abilities recorded on last contact.) Estimated 3._:

:_Odds of Takani, Megumi survival: 10._:

:_Current status of Kanryuu security: concealed cameras, intercom tap indicate human members severely impaired, possibly deceased. Kin subgroup Oniwabanshuu occupied/ currently divided._:

:_Estimation of outcome, Oniwabanshuu/Battousai/ Sagara, Sanosuke.: 65 mutual destruction, 22 Target Alpha victory, 11 Oniwabanshuu victory, 2 unpredictable._:

:_Previously unknown factor: Kin items developed by Takeda, Kanryuu._:

:_Factor irrelevant._:

:_Primary goal: Feed, assimilate, spread._:

:_Secondary goal: Open portal beyond Twisted Dimensions. (See subfile, Krssd.)_:

:_Necessary sub-conditions: Access to source of magic. Access to dimensional portal ability. (See subfile, Sorcerers, Black magic.)_:

:_Potential magical source: coven pool. Temporarily blocked by Target Alpha sorcery and elimination of assimilated coven member by enemy unit Battousai._:

:_Access to pool by coven member impossible to block by outside influence._:

:_Latest tech raid successful. Oniwabanshuu-specific weapons acquired, tested, optimal functioning capacity._:

:_Retrieve Takani, Megumi._:

Metal gripped metal, and a helicopter's engine whined into the sky.

---------

_Kanryuu has betrayed us. _

Listening to snow-silent footsteps and panting breaths in their wake as his enemies tore up the private staircase, Han'nya knew it in the steel wire of his bones. He stood behind the arms dealer in Aoshi's shadow, gaze straying to the iolite ring on the Okashira's finger; a ring he had never wondered at, never even questioned. Aoshi had come to them with the jewel, and who was he to question the choice of such a leader?

_A jewel he has tried to draw to our attention for five years... oh my leader, I have failed you._

_But I will not fail twice. _

He was Aoshi's second; he could act in his leader's best interests, no matter the cost, and let Aoshi take his life for the dishonor later. And once this night was over, he _would_ - and Kanryuu would know what it was to tamper with the last of the Oniwabanshuu.

_When this night is over,_ Han'nya promised himself, forcing his gaze back down the staircase below. _I will find the secret to that ring... and Kanryuu will know what true pain is._

_But first, we must survive._

The approaching auras beat on his senses like a storm; oddly doubled, out of synch as the gusts of wind before a tornado. But a swordsman's, no doubt of it.

Han'nya sucked in a quick breath, feeling what passed for his heart quicken. _I have not felt such ki since Edo... oh, this will be a fight to sing of!_

Kanryuu straightened his tie and stood nonchalant, as red and black hair leapt up the last step to the landing in clear view below. "Welcome, Bat-"

Steel-blue fixed his gaze; a sword drawn in ancient moonlight.

Han'nya hid a dark laugh as words died in the sweating human's throat. _What is that modern saying? "Be careful what you wish for?"_

"Kanryuu Takeda." The very slightest inclination of scarlet hair; a samurai's proper acknowledgement, of the enemy he planned to obliterate. "Your war is over."

Kanryuu's lips moved, but no sound came out.

Han'nya controlled a start. Was that _sorrow,_ flickering like darkness in the flames of a swordsman's rage?

"Your time is over," the redhead went on levelly. "Come down with Megumi-dono and the others."

"Hah!" Kanryuu clapped his hands. "Hah ha hah! Better than I'd even hoped!"

"What the heck?" Yahiko muttered.

Sagara snorted. "Guy's lost it."

Cloaked in shadows, Han'nya shot a glance at Aoshi's utter silence. _What do you intend, my leader? The plan we have should work, I know - but what of it have you not told me?_

Though in truth, it did not matter. He would preserve his Okashira's life... and the life of the little human who held his heart.

"Fifty men, defeated in the space of a few breaths! Stronger even than Jin-e," Kanryuu mused, gripping the railing as he smirked down. "Which means our spell can do even more for you."

The sword-spirit twitched.

"Think of it," Kanryuu offered expansively. "Forget being trapped in one measly backwards blade. We can enhance your curse, increase it - double and redouble it into a thousand thorns of steel!" He smiled, eyes glinting through his glasses. "Think of it. _Hundreds_ of human souls to possess. All thirsting to quench the bloodlust that drives you..."

The Animate felt the mask-slits that served him for eyes widen, at that odd sense of _shift_ within the auras below. _Wind and waves - and the ship has turned into the teeth of the storm, sails snapping out full as it rides up the black waves..._

_This is Hitokiri Battousai!_

"Are you coming down," came the low, cold whisper, "or am I coming up?"

Speechless, Kanryuu gaped.

One slow step, sandal touching down soundless on the landing.

"I... but..."

Another.

"You don't get it," Aoshi's quiet voice drifted on the air, as the Ubo crossed his arms in the shadows. "Your money, your spell, your drug... none of that is any use here."

"B-but he's a Muramasa blade-!"

"Driven to kill, say the legends. Demons caged in steel, ever thirsting for blood. All of them... save one." Emerald gleamed with cold joy. "Would it surprise you to know that not one of your men is dead?"

"T-that's imposs- _put me down!_"

"Follow the plan," Aoshi said dryly, disappearing with Kanryuu into shadows.

"As you will, my Okashira," Han'nya said softly. :_And Misao?_: he dared.

:_I will see to Misao,_: Aoshi's mind murmured back. :_Do not fear for her._:

_Not for her, no, but for you... my Okashira, my kinsman who will bring our lost clan home..._ Han'nya turned back to the staircase, and spread the steel claws of his hands.

_For you, I will face even the Demon of Kyoto._

---------

_Fast! But not fast enough. _Breathing within steel and flesh, Battousai leaped over one claw strike, ducked another-

Almost.

:_Ow..._:

Tottering on a step before finding his balance, Kenshin wiped the blood from their eyes, shivering at the sting of the shallow cut as Han'nya paused to let them absorb the blow. :_How chivalrous of him,_: the redhead thought darkly.

_He means to break our morale,_ Battousai agreed, feeling the flux of ki three landings down as Yahiko tried to yell for explanations and Sano grabbed him. _To know that he_ can _strike us, when by what we know of his speed he should not be able to... it would shake most souls._

:_And you think it doesn't shake_ mine?:

_We know what is at risk. Whatever fear is in you, I know you will not yield to it._ We _will not yield to it. Because..._

The sword-spirit tested that frail balance between them. _Leaned_ on it.

_Right now..._

Reached within, for the will and hope and righteous fury that fueled this new strength.

And _pulled._

._..there_ is _no_ we.

"What have you done?"

He opened his eyes and regarded the Animate, oddly dizzy. _Oniwabanshuu, when I thought I had outrun the government at last... Ame, beloved, don't argue, take Kenji and run-!_

She wasn't there.

_Not London... New York. I'm in New York, as I have been almost a century..._

_And Han'nya is between me and mine._

"The war between us ended with the fall of the Shogunate," the redhead said levelly. "Whatever they have offered you, it cannot be enough; not for the life of the master of intelligence of Edo Castle."

The mask looked stunned. "You _know-?_"

"I remember..." He shook his head, aware the cut was already healing. "I have cost the Oniwabanshuu many lives; for that alone, I would understand if you wished to kill me.

"But you have brought innocents into this battle, and you serve one who would unleash war as bloody as the Bakumatsu." His grip tightened on his blade. "I have seen one rain of blood. I will not stand by, and allow another to fall." He softened his voice. "Let us pass, Han'nya. For your sake... and Shinomori's."

"Commands of the Okashira-" claws keened against claws; flexed apart, casting glints of light over black-and-white-striped sleeves, "-are _absolute_."

_Damn. _

"And the peril is not so deadly as you would have me believe, _Battousai_..."

_He's laughing at me! Oh, that tears it-_

"After all, if you cannot even break my spell," claws and kicks thundered down; the sword-spirit dodged and dodged again, sleeves shredding in thin rivulets of blood, "you won't last a minute against the Okashira!"

_Spell? Spells wash over me like rain, most nights... and even when they do not, I_ feel _them. It can't be a spell-_

_But it could be illusion._

A memory floated up, not quite of a piece with the others flowing through his mind; of tricks with lines and colors, mind-twisters that had intrigued a bored youngster languishing in study hall after yet another day's homework was done.

_Illusions, without magic. That costume... and I can evade his kicks, yet not his claws!_

He let himself fall to the next landing, rising back into an antique stance; arm extended and higher than modern styles, sword parallel to the floor and pointing toward where Han'nya's forehead would be once the onmitsu joined him at this level. _Ready... and wait._

"The heck?" Yahiko's mutter floated up. "That's not _chuudan_..."

"Hey!" A soft rustle, likely Sano patting tousled hair. "English, for those of us who don't speak sword?"

"Hands off the head - there's five forms, okay? And that one's kind of like chuudan... only his arm's too high, Kaoru would thump me if I stood like that."

"Because Kamiya-san knows nothing of the ancient styles," Han'nya glared down. "No modern child of kendo would recognize _shinken_."

_Ah. But do you?_

"An ancient defensive stance, allowing its user to react instantly to sudden changes in the opponent's strikes... yet disallowing most offensive strikes! You _dare_ shrink from this battle?"

_Breathe. Ignore the fear. Ignore time, trickling away..._

_"Answer me!" _

_Kaoru's depending on you..._

"Is _this_ the true face of the _Demon of Kyoto?_"

_...To get it right the first time._

The mask's ivory tusks gnashed. "A creature like you has no right to face the Okashira! You die where you stand!"

The world narrowed to stillness, even as the Animate charged; everything set aside but the sense of ki bent on attack, the claws on the striped arm passing his outstretched blade-

_There!_

Claws breezed past his face as he _moved,_ sliding aside with barely a paper's width between scarlet and steel.

_Head!_

The sakabatou cracked the top of the mask; he almost laughed, flipping up and past the stunned onmitsu to the next landing. _Now you have a problem, Han'nya. Turn to face me, and risk Sano shooting you; turn on them, and leave me at your back. _

_Either way, we_ are _getting through._

"What the hell kind of Edge is he using?" Sano snapped.

"None at all." A shadow of a smile passed over the redhead's face. "Stripes, Sano. Think about it."

He could all but hear Sano's jaw drop. "An optical illusion?"

"Makes his arms look shorter and wider, so when you think you've dodged 'em... man!" Yahiko whistled. "Since when do Kin do something that's not supernatural?"

"The onmitsu of the Oniwabanshuu were ever the finest of ninja," the sword-spirit observed. "And to be ninja, is to use any tactic to accomplish one's mission. No matter how... human."

"As Choushuu's hitokiri knows well." Tusks flexed into a vicious smile; a few more bits of white fell from the mask's forehead. "Using your sword to measure the true distance; turning _defense_ into _attack_. With no Edge at all." The mask tilted, crackling. "Battousai, whose speed rivals the gods... yet even with that, most legends never suspected you were Kin. You, who fought and vanished like any Herd assassin, never accepting temporary death at the hands of your enemies, even when it would have furthered Katsura's goals... did you think Choushuu would destroy you if they knew the truth?"

"Choushuu would not have had to," the redhead said wryly. _He is an honorable foe. He's earned this._ "I am not Kin as you are, Han'nya. Like humans, I have only one life."

The Animate hissed. "And you risk it here..."

"As you risk yours, facing me." He raised his sword. "Those I slay die the True Death, Han'nya. If this blade cuts the threads of your life, they are unraveled forever." _Breathe. Just breathe._ "And so I ask, one more time... step aside. Our battle is with Kanryuu, not you."

"Aoshi is in Kanryuu's service. If you pass me, he will be next!" Claws spread, as the Animate prepared to rush him. "I will not allow it!"

"Then answer this!" _We have to get past him. I can't hold back..._ "Megumi's past - did you know?"

"The master spy of the Oniwabanshuu?" The cracked mask sneered. "How can you even ask?" Claws swooped in-

Blunt steel caught them, held...

He sensed the twist of ki and muscles before his blade felt it; leapt up and back, sandals impacting the wall near the ceiling even as Han'nya's boots did, across the open space above the next flight of stairs.

_Oh, a stairwell is_ so _not the place to have this kind of fight..._

"Rrrraghhhh!"

The Animate flew at him again, space and time twisting about him in ways that hurt the sword-spirit's head; he fought it, as he had Jin-e's Shin no Ippou, holding to what he knew reality _was_ and _should be_.

_It's a good thing-_ wall, _-I'm not afraid-_ ceiling, _-of heights anymore-_ railing, and a dizzying glimpse of empty space below as his blade intercepted steel claws and he _twisted-_

Claws cracked.

_Now!_

The _kesagiri_ struck home, bending a frame of steel and wood in ways even a bunraku puppet wasn't meant to move.

"Still no match... for Aoshi..."

A patter of feet behind him; Sano and Yahiko, looking down on the limp Animate. "He's not dust," Sano pointed out.

"But he's down. It's enough." The sword-spirit sheathed his blade. "He was buying time..."

"Meaning our ladies may not have much. Gotcha," Sano nodded, tucking Yahiko under his arm for the next dash upwards. "C'mon, kid!"

"Don't call me kid!"

---------

_Mmm... nice, warm... could stay here for hours..._

_So why do I have this funny feeling I didn't set my alarm?_

Misao pried an eye open, ready to glance at the clock and convince herself it was okay to go right back to sleep-

_Ohmigod! Where am I?_

"I should have known the mesmerism would not hold a _kunoichi_ forever."

Misao sat bolt upright, flinging back the white comforter to dash into familiar arms. "Aoshi!" _Wait, did he say mesmerism?_

_The lab._

_Death. _

_Oh, no! No, no, no-_

His arms tightened about her, silk over steel. "I had no choice," the Okashira murmured in her ear. "I still do not. I am... so sorry, my Misao. So sorry..."

"Please stop," she begged, holding on tight. "Please, I don't care - just come home! Grandpa-" her voice broke. "Grandpa can help! I know he can!"

"It is too late." His tone was weary, flat. "But at least I can spare you pain." Something hard pressed into her grip.

_A knife?_

"Kin cannot see it." Emerald met her gaze, cold and merciless. "You will give me your word as Oniwabanshuu: you will not use this blade against Kanryuu."

"I- I won't," Misao said in a rush. "Aoshi, please, tell me what's wrong-"

"Kamiya and Takani are above, here." A building map was pressed into her hands next, _here_ and _there_ clearly marked. "Kamiya is human; she is no threat to Kanryuu so long as we defend him. He has already stated Takani is no longer required. And as _you_ are not a threat - you are free to go." Emerald bored into her again. "Do you understand?"

"No," she whispered. _Though I think I'm starting to... oh Aoshi, why can't you tell me?_ "Last night, I thought - I thought you sent me off with Han'nya so I'd be _safe_."

Stiff, he drew away, one hand ghosting over a bookshelf. "I did."

"So why am I _here?_"

For a moment, he looked lost. "I..."

_That's my Aoshi, all right. Never does know what to say._ Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed him.

His lips were soft, and warm, and utterly reluctant to pull away.

But he did, and only held her, breathing in the scent of her hair. "Perhaps I hoped... we would share that, one more time." Closing his eyes, he took one more breath, and gently set her down. "I believe Battousai has rather neatly accounted for most of Kanryuu's security. It's fortunate we have no escaped prisoners, _ne?_"

"Right," Misao said slowly. _I don't get it- but-_

"Still, the Oniwabanshuu must remain alert. Our trap is about to spring - and interruptions would be unfortunate." Emerald ice chilled her soul. "As Okashira of the Oniwabanshuu, I _order_ a _kunoichi_ to her assigned post."

_"Hai!"_ She snapped out the same salute she would have given Grandpa, bolting for the door. "I won't let you down, Aoshi-sama!"

"I know you won't, my butterfly." The whisper chased her down the hall; half in her ears, half in her blood. "I'm counting on it."

---------

"Let me _out_ of here, you-!"

With one last pound on the inside of the safe room's solid steel door, Kanryuu stepped back, and smirked. _Perfect._

Well, not _entirely_ perfect; it didn't look as if he'd have his hands on Battousai anytime soon, and Shinomori seemed to have developed a sudden, unfortunate resistance to his controlling ring. All in all, not the best of outcomes.

_But it's a poor businessman who doesn't plan for reverses in fortune._

And at the moment, Shinomori's plan - however clever the Ubo might think it - was dovetailing quite neatly with Kanryuu's own. Kanryuu was locked up, just as Aoshi wished, with those idiots Beshimi and Hyotokko in the corridor outside to "guard" him - and therefore perfectly safe from most Kin, who simply did not have the skill or talent to break in through the well-guarded ventilation system. An Ubo, with his ability to transform into a tiny white butterfly, might well get through... but Battousai was about to handle _that_ danger in a very permanent way.

All things considered, the night _could_ have gone worse.

_The ring must hold part of Shinomori even now, or he'd just have left,_ Kanryuu calculated. _Still, no sense in taking chances._ Dusting off his hands, he headed to an alcove in the far wall; a drab, unused corner of his safe room Shinomori had never had the opportunity to examine. Gloved fingers slid aside an innocuous panel to reveal a keypad, and punched a long, coded sequence.

Silently, one small section of wall opened.

Breathing in air with a tang of spider-webs and New York night, Kanryuu squirmed through the gap and stood, smirking at this small, hidden staircase even Shinomori didn't know about. A flight and a half would lead to another hidden door onto the roof helipad, where his own private gyrocopter would be waiting-

Was that a helicopter passing near his building? _Damned news-chasers,_ Kanryuu fumed, starting up the dusty steps. _Don't they realize that if those in power want them to know something, we'll tell them?_

The whine of engines grew louder.

_What on earth are they doing? No one's allowed to land here - and I know it's not Target Alpha, they're too good at sticking to their own plans..._

Touchdown. And... odd thumps. Many of them.

_Oh, don't tell me those idiots at the NYPD called out SWAT-_

With a groan of steel, the roof door was wrenched open. Jaw dropped, Kanryuu froze. _Metal... moving..._

Tendrils blocked the screams.

---------

"Oh goody." Sano cracked his knuckles, staring down the length of yet another mega-office, this one executive-meeting-room style, at a scarred were-tiger twice his size. Deliberately not looking Aoshi's way; no sense in giving the Ubo an opening to try mesmerizing. _Let Kenshin handle him. Or 'Sai. Or... whoever's in charge over there._ "One for each of us."

"Hey!"

"Yahiko, _no,_" the redhead said firmly.

"Listen to your big brother, kid," the were-tiger rumbled. "Maybe you're good enough to take Herd, but-" one hand flexed, rippling into claws, "-walk into a Kin rumble, you're _lunchmeat_."

"Sanosuke Sagara," Sano jumped in, before Yahiko could steam up a reply. "Target Alpha, Triborough. You?"

"Huh. A Herd with manners." The twisted smile showed fangs. "Shikijou, gatekeeper of the Oniwabanshuu." Bones crackled and popped, as stripes rippled over skin, fur pushing through in their wake.

"Remember the lady you chewed up today?" Deliberately, Sano slammed a new clip into his gun. "Susan says hello, and fuck you."

"That so?" Still changing, the were-tiger gave a coughing laugh. "Nothing like long pig. Think I'll have another slice tonight... _rrrarrr!_"

_Forget tricky shots, just go for center of mass-_

Fur and blood flew.

---------

_Sano can handle himself. Sano_ can _handle himself._ "What I have said to Han'nya, I say to you: the war is _over._ Let us pass."

"And did Han'nya _let_ you pass?" Emerald ice seared his gaze. "He didn't, did he?"

_There is the ring._ The blue-violet glint was unmistakable, as Aoshi reached for-

_A kodachi? This is not good... _

"If you would ask favors of me, ask them with that sakabatou."

A smile tugged at the sword-spirit's face, despite the roars and gunfire. "Jin-e said much the same." _And you well know what fate he met._

Silent, the Ubo drew his blade.

_You know, yet you do not care._ But the Okashira's ki felt wrong for that, _wrong-_

The white trenchcoat was on him.

_Fast!_

Parry. Quell the tremor of apprehension as he realized how light the kodachi was, how easily Aoshi used it; the _shield-sword_ indeed, though how Aoshi expected to attack with it-

The kick blew out of nowhere. The punches, almost.

_Up! _

The leap up and back gave him half a heartbeat; bleeding, he took it. Felt strategy slide into place, and let gravity drag him back down.

Three strikes; the kodachi parried them all, keening deadly defense.

_Kodachi to block, martial arts to attack - which means his next strike will be-_

The impact to his shoulders jarred like bullets.

_Sometimes I hate being right... wha- that ki, full of anticipation, why-?_

Amber eyes caught an aberration in the pattern on the floor; recognized angled, slantwise shapes.

_Runes - he was herding me-!_

Lightning and fire.

---------

One arm flung up against the hail of sparks, the Okashira waited. And - almost - grieved.

_I truly thought he might win past me..._

Of course, that would have meant his own death. But Kanryuu's ring did not _demand_ he survive.

_To die defending Kanryuu from Hitokiri Battousai... that, at least, would have been a merciful end. _

But Misao should be shortly away, and the innocent with her. He had done as much as he could.

_Now to see if Shikijou needs any-_

"Grrrar!"

_Thwack!_

_Shred!_

_Smash!_

_...Then again, I doubt he'd appreciate the interference._ Aoshi shook his head, amazed, as the striped cat-man and the bloodied agent proceeded to smash their way through every last chair and bit of table left in the room. _I didn't know any human could trade punches with a were-tiger and stay standing!_

A choked sob drew his attention to Yahiko; the Okashira straightened his shoulders. _I should be able to spare the boy. Let's only hope he's not resistant to mesmerism-_

"Kenshin," the teen breathed.

_Impossible!_

Red gi smoking, the swordsman rose to unsteady feet; took one shaky step outside the circle of runes. Another.

_He should be dead!_ The runes had been designed, by Smythe and others, along the same lines as those that had prisoned Jin-e; magic meant to slam the demon back into its blade, severing the link between host and steel. Inconvenient, for the sword... yet for the blade-warped body, fatal.

But this man was _breathing_.

"Don't worry, Yahiko-kun." Violet eyes opened, weary and determined. "If a few scribbles on the floor stopped me, what would Kaoru-dono think?" He managed a laugh. "I don't even want to think about what Sano would say."

The Okashira blew out a soft _ha_ of understanding. "Kenshin Himura." He shook his head slightly. "Now I must offer you the chance to withdraw."

"Aoshi..."

"I imagine my reports on you are even more thorough than Target Alpha's," the Okashira said neutrally. "Kin for less than a month. A shopkeeper all the years before that. Only two kills to your name before that blade took you, and one of those in the grip of Inuit Madness." He narrowed his eyes, letting emerald bite into violet. "I know the strength of those runes. Battousai won't recover enough to touch a host for half an hour yet. Don't be a fool. Take your brother and go."

"When the counter to that kodachi has finally become clear?" A gentle smile. "No."

_Suicidal idiot._ Deliberately, Aoshi advanced. "Choose your bluffs more carefully. No one learns kendo in two weeks."

"Kendo, no." Another soft, darkly amused smile.

And red _blurred_.

_Too slow!_ The Okashira moved to parry and step, sliding steel past enough to punch-

Blades caught. Untangled. Keened against each other again and again; head, chest, thigh-height.

_How?_

The scent of blood tantalized his nose; red and fresh, dripping from-

_His hand. His hand is holding the base of the blade - he_ shortened _the reach of the sakabatou-!_

The hilt-strike to the throat drove him back, gasping. An Ubo didn't need to breathe often as a human, but gods, that _hurt_.

"Range," the redhead stated; still gentle, still even as if he held nothing more painful than a flower. "That is the word, Yahiko, _ne?_"

"R-right," the teen managed. "The - the distance you can attack in one movement, that's what Kaoru says... a longer blade's got more power, more range - but-"

"A larger blind spot," his brother nodded, gaze not leaving the onmitsu's. "Which is how his punches and kicks could come through."

"But - Kenshin, you're bleeding-!"

"The blade is most dull here, near the base. It won't cut bone. If one is careful."

_Impossible._ "Han'nya checked," the Okashira said flatly. "You are a shopkeeper."

"I have lived as a shopkeeper," Kenshin agreed; smile faint, and sad. "But it seems I was born to be a _hitokiri_."

Icy shock clutched the Ubo. Did Himura know... could he truly mean... was it even barely possible that he could be-?

_He does. He is._ Look _at those eyes. He may not have the blade's pure knowledge of kenjutsu, but he knows what he is doing, and why._

_I am the Enemy. I am an_ obstacle. _And he is determined to pass me. No matter what it takes. _

_This is a manslayer. _

_And I thought I faced only the blade..._

Honored, the Okashira inclined his head. "Then allow me to show you what I was born to be."

He let the dance take him.

_Even now, I love it so._

Himura's horror was clear to read, as the swordsman swung and missed; once, twice-

_"Die." _

Swirling about his foe, Aoshi felt his kodachi bite home.

_I do pity you... even an expert swordsman would never get my flowing movement._ He watched the small body fall, flung away by three horizontal strikes. _But this is my castle to defend, evil as it is - and Kaiten Kenbu has never failed._

_Except-_

_Dead men don't bleed..._

Shock nailed his feet to the floor as the redhead struggled to stand, iron sheath creaking apart into four separate slices.

_Slashes to his chest - but they trail_ away _from where the sheath was cut..._ Aoshi stared, fact fitting with fact to the inevitable conclusion. _He used the metal to take the force of the blow!_ "I _hate_ amateurs."

That won a laugh, painful as Kenshin evidently found it. "Shall we... finish this, then?"

"You're wounded. Slowed." But still obviously a threat to Kanryuu. Ah well. "If you had only the sense to give up, I would pity you." He flowed about the bleeding redhead, circling, never the same movement twice, waiting-

_Now!_

Steel stopped.

Violet glared up at him, bloody hands holding his blade immobile as a rooted oak. "Two weeks, to learn the whole of kenjutsu - no. Never. But to learn its one movement of _self-defense..._"

_The blade-catch,_ Aoshi realized, in that split second before clawed hands drove his own hilt into his throat. _The only bare-handed move_ all _sword-styles teach-_

Claws raked down his right hand, and something snapped in his soul.

---------

Translations and info:

_Chuudan_ - cut to middle level, one of the five basic stances of kendo.

_Kesagiri_ - "scarf cut", diagonal across the torso.

_Kodachi_ - "shield sword"; between wakizashi and katana in length.

_Kunoichi_ - female ninja.

_Saya_ - sheath.


	13. Chapter 13

_Okay, focus,_ Kaoru thought, closing her eyes to picture the knot better. _Megumi's crying - of course she's crying - but you can't do anything about it if you don't get loose!_

"So salt water really does affect Witches," Goren said thoughtfully. "How much salt does it have to be? Doesn't look like it's much, if all Shinomori had to do was soak your ropes... wow, I guess potato chips are kind of out, huh?"

"L-low sodium foods," Megumi gulped. "And forget soy sauce... oh gods, those things are getting closer..."

Kaoru could almost _feel_ the detective's shudder as steel thorns inched within a hand's breadth, but his voice stayed level. "Chinese is off the menu, huh? Ouch."

_Good guy. Keep distracting her. And... got you! _

Cords unwound from her hands; Kaoru dove for her feet, trying to ignore the pins and needles from blood flowing back into bruised wrists. _Over, under, through - there!_

Free, she snatched up her chair; slashed it awkwardly across the floor, steel embedding into wood with a hungry whine. "No. You. _Don't!_"

"Behind you!" Megumi wailed.

Kaoru ducked a flying sliver, smashed her chair against the polished floor. Once, twice-

_Leg, leg, just give me - yes!_ Not the length of a bokken, certainly not the shape, but it'd do. It'd have to.

_Move!_

She wove a whistling defense around her people, tainted steel thunking into wood it couldn't warp, or screaming against metal already dug in. _Breathe, move, parry-_

Sweat stung Kaoru's eyes, dripped down the small of her back as she registered stillness. _They stopped?_

"Whoa," Goren breathed.

"They're just regrouping," Kaoru panted, studying the still half-full box of thorns. "You didn't meet Jin-e. He was awful. And _persistent_."

"Handcuff key in my left sock," the detective noted.

_Oh. Good. But-_ "They move the most when we're not looking," Kaoru pointed out.

He gave her an odd half-smile. "Guess we'll have to trust your timing."

_You trust it more than I do- Wait. That sounds like someone running!_ Raising her improvised weapon, Kaoru prepared to ambush whoever was coming back.

"Kaoru!"

"Misao!" Kaoru dashed to the doors as a mini-whirlwind of long braid flung them open, wood _spang_ing against flying steel. "Get them loose!" _And Dad thought trying to figure out_ Soresu _was just an excuse to watch Star Wars._ "And duck!"

"Eep!" A map thudded to the floor, pinned by angry thorns. Misao hand-sprung and leapt across the room, knife slashing down through salt-soaked ropes. "Aoshi gave us a way out Battousai got the other security we've got to _go!_"

"Aoshi _what?_" But the shock didn't keep Megumi from moving; she went after Goren's sock, keeping herself as small as possible as handcuffs clicked loose.

Misao gulped, hands busy with Eames' gag. "I think he's trying to help us but it's like he really can't and - ohmigod, that's a _body_..."

"Yeah. And it's not going to be us," Kaoru said grimly. "So-" Words died on her lips.

Eames worked spit into her mouth, drew a sharp breath. "What?"

"Something's wrong," Kaoru whispered, chilled. "Something's really wrong." Something that felt like night and terror and blank, inhuman faces...

"Virus!"

---------

_Thump. _

Beshimi glanced at Hyotokko.

_Thump._

"So he's banging on the door again," the clay Animate shrugged.

"He's not yelling," the Rakshasa said uneasily.

Hyotokko snorted. "The Okashira's got the override codes. He's not going-"

_Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Rrrrr..._

"-Anywhere?"

"Override to the override," Beshimi grumbled as the door began to pivot open. "Takeda-san! Surely you know the Okashira thinks it safest for you to remain-"

White light slashed out like noonday sun.

---------

"Stay-" _Thump._ "Down!" _Smash._ "Coat this wood in silver and see how you like it-"

Yahiko gulped, and decided not to sneak any closer. "Sano!"

"Hwhah?" Swaying on his feet, Sano staggered back from the groaning were-tiger. "Ooough... since when are you twins?"

Yahiko caught the agent as he teetered, giving a subtle push the other way. "I think Kenshin got him."

"You mean 'Sai," Sano objected, heading toward the fallen Okashira in an unsteady trudge.

"Uh-uh." Yahiko shook his head. "Kenshin."

"Your mouth is open, I could swear you're talking - it's just not making sense." Sano blinked at the blue-violet glint in Kenshin's hands. "Great. You got it. Now what are you going to do with-"

Claws bit into iolite. Stone shattered.

Yahiko blinked as multicolored powders sifted out of pierced silver, drifting on the air in shimmering veils that made his skin crawl. "What the heck's that?"

"Black magic." Violet eyes were narrowed, glinting steel-blue with pure fury. Claws closed, crumpling silver into a twisted ball. "The blackest of all, that prisons mind and soul."

Sano gave his brother a _look._ "Don't tell me you think he's one of the good guys."

"I've no idea; that I don't. But Misao loves him, Sano. And if she could see past Target Alpha's dread to befriend such a fearsome creature as Battousai..." Kenshin dropped the remnants of the ring into the pouch he kept between layers of gi, and granted the agent a sober glance. "We owe him at least the chance to decide he is not our enemy."

"Right," Sano drawled. "You don't mind if I call Uramura while he's making up his mind, huh?"

That drew a weak laugh. "Likely wise."

Half-listening to Sano start arguing on his radio behind them, Yahiko scooped up a bit of sliced saya. Swallowed hard. _Aoshi cut through it like wood._ "Are you okay?"

"No," Kenshin admitted. "But I will be." A tired smile. "I'm not so easy to kill, that I am not." He blinked. Frowned.

"What?" Yahiko said uneasily. Both guys on the floor were stirring; and though the guy Sano had hit was holding his head like somebody'd poured a heavy metal concert into his brain, the Okashira's gasp for breath raised all the hairs on the back of his neck.

"Yeah," Sano's growl cut across his worry, "well tell Falconi I really don't think we need the bazookas this time-"

"Bring them," Kenshin bit out, voice hard. "Bring everything."

"Say what?"

"Virus!" A grab, a sudden absence of floor - and Yahiko found himself shoved into Sano's surprised grip. "Get Yahiko out of here!"

"Misao," Aoshi breathed. Rose to his feet, one swift flow of white.

And that was the last Yahiko saw, as Sano hauled ass back down the stairs. "What are you _doing_ - Kenshin's going that way-!"

"_Kenshin_ can jump out a damn window and _claw_ his way down the building if he has to!" Sano snapped back, never slowing. "If they're inside, they've already got the elevators, kid - they cut us off from the stairs, and we are toast! You got me?" A tooth-jarring thump, as he took the first landing at speed. "Damn it, stop being a teenager and _think!_"

_But he promised he wouldn't leave me,_ Yahiko wanted to wail. _He promised!_

_But- if Sano's going down, that means Virus is_ up-

Clutching his bokken, Yahiko thought of his teacher, and tried not to scream.

---------

_I'm going to find the bastard who took down the sign "Twilight Zone next left",_ Alex Eames thought grimly, running at speeds she hadn't hit since high school. _And then I'm going to shoot them to death. Starting with the foot._

Death was breathing on their heels; clicking, whining gears, the whip of metal tendrils, the odd crackle of static as one metal monstrosity brushed near another.

But no words. No words at all.

No words on their side, either; only panting breath, the skid of feet, the white gleam of young women's faces pushed beyond terror into a horror so dark Alex shuddered to think of it.

_They'd rather jump out the windows than get caught,_ Alex realized. _They'd rather-_

_Die. They_ know _they'd die._

Megumi glanced behind them, and cursed. _"Jubilee!"_

Fireworks exploded.

_How did she-?_ Alex risked a glance back where the foremost creatures were now tangled in each other, understandably dazed by what seemed to be a whole Fourth of July load going off with them as the centerpiece.

But the ones behind them were still coming.

_Don't worry about the fireworks, just keep moving... Wait, why is the ceiling-_

_"Eyaauuughhh!"_

Something huge crashed down; Alex dove forward, felt something sticky smack her face anyway, involuntarily raised a hand to wipe off-

...A piece of clay?

"You!" Kaoru waved wood at a cat-eyed creature with smoke rising from his skin, as if half his face had been stuck in a blast furnace. "I ought to- If we were-"

Bobby grabbed the kendo teacher's shoulder and pulled, never slowing down, even when a mass of mud lumbered up from the ceiling-shards in the shape of a man. "Forget killing him, keep going!"

Stairs. Echoing. Empty. A way _out_.

Misao flung open the doors, and lead flew.

---------

_So Virus has mastered its hunger enough to use weapons,_ Aoshi realized, fluttering up unnoticed through the withering hail of bullets from the Virus two floors down. Hyotokko and the others had managed to lock the stairwell doors behind them, but already metal fists were punching through; a moment more, and they'd be besieged from both sides. _This bodes ill for us, and all the world._

A very Okashira thought.

_It's still there - I thought the ring's destruction would shatter it, but it's still_ there. _It's not fair!_

Yet _fair_ had left his world five years ago; why should now be different? The Okashira no longer ruled him, at least, and Kanryuu's contract was shattered wholly-

But the Okashira's chill still gripped his soul. He stood divided; the numbed, breathing person that had won bare minutes of freedom to _be_ this past half-decade - and the master of onmitsu, who saw a threat to his men and his kunoichi he _would_ not tolerate.

_I don't know... who I_ am...

A metal fist withdrew from a hole in the door; something black and boxy poked through in its place. Not the right shape for a gun muzzle-

Beshimi wailed, trying to gather a glob of black venom in one seared hand.

White light lanced out, harsh with an undertone of purple. The white butterfly shuddered, not knowing why.

Hyotokko shrieked.

Shape-shifting, Aoshi touched down in crumbling clay; unable, for a heartbeat, to believe his own eyes. But there was a hole eaten straight through the golem's heart, that spread and seared and scattered him like-

_Sunlight._

_No!_

Plastic was sizzling where Beshimi's blow had found its mark. Metal snaked through the hole in its place; grim and tearful, Kamiya starting beating it with steel-studded wood.

"Okashira..."

Clay drifted through Aoshi's fingers, gray dust. Blood roared in his ears; the detectives were yelling something, and Kamiya was clutching a grazed arm, white-faced, and Misao-

"Aoshi-sama!" She grabbed his arm and held it, even when his glare sent Beshimi cowering back. "We need you!"

_Ninja are born only to die,_ that chill within whispered. _We do as we must to complete our missions, for the life of the clan. But there is no contract here, no employer. No mission. _

_Protect the clan._

"You need these." Their guns had fit easily in his trenchcoat pockets; he handed them to the stunned detectives. "Your shots are unlikely to kill. Make them count."

"Oh, and now we're supposed to believe you're on _our_ side-" Eames started.

"I'm sure you've noticed we're kind of stuck," her partner jumped in, taking a potshot through one of the holes in the doors. "What do we do?"

Aoshi's lip curled. "Survive."

Metal _smashed_ against metal below; shrieking, tearing, shuddering-

The gunfire stopped.

"Ah. Himura." Aoshi picked up a yelping kendo master. "Catch, Battousai!"

"When I get my hands on you...!" Kaoru's shriek cut off in a falling yelp, and harsh breaths.

Aoshi glanced down two floors and a turn below, where red hair was bent next to black in a crushing hug. Smirked. _So he did catch her._

"Oh no you - Aoshi-sama!"

Another yelp and smack of flesh on cloth told him Misao was safely down. He glanced at Takani.

"You Kin think strength is everything." Dark humor crinkled her eyes. "Inertia, Okashira. If Ken-san tried to catch me, I'd pull him right over the edge."

He tried not to redden.

"Besides," Takani whispered numbly, "It's me they want."

"You?" Eames pounced.

"So we go the long way," Goren broke in, seizing Takani's arm with one hand and gathering his partner with a jerk of his head as he stampeded down toward the others. "Down is good, down is very good..."

_Not as good as you may think,_ Aoshi thought darkly. _We don't know how many floors Virus is on. It_ plans. _I doubt those were its last ambush._ "Beshimi, go!"

Clay drifting from his claws, Beshimi gave him a jerky nod.

The rest was nightmare.

Light died even as they fled; Virus, using its mastery of the building's circuits to leave its prey blind and helpless. Only that searing white cut the dark, again and again, knives of light like noonday sun.

_Some kind of UV weapon,_ Aoshi realized, as yet another shot sizzled past his shoulder. _Must have limited range and time-on-target, or Virus would just lay down fire through the whole shaft... who built those things? And when can I feed them to Shikijou?_

Down and down. They were faster than Virus; that was the hell of it. Without the UV blasts, they'd be pulling ahead and gone, faster Kin carrying the slower members of their group if they had to. With them-

Metal struck like a snake, sinking circuit-fangs into his shoulder. He slashed at it with his kodachi, dread chilling him as razor-sharp steel glanced off the armored tendril.

_So it will drink me here... Oh, Misao, if only you could fly-!_

But that would have meant abandoning Takani. And that, he would not do.

_Virus is a threat to the clan. It will not be allowed to achieve its goals._

_No matter what the cost._

He could not win, no. But he could still _fight-_

"Okashira!"

Beshimi's venom-laced claws did what mere steel could not - cut the feeding tendril into sparking pieces.

_No, you fool! Virus knows where I am-_

White light seared down.

"We were... always honored to serve you, Okashira..."

Dust scattered over him.

And he knew, _knew_ the ring was gone, for he could feel... he could _feel_...

Grief. Rage. Hate, deep and black as gale-torn ocean.

_No one kills one of mine!_

Yellow light spilled into the stairwell, and a roar shook the world.

---------

_Never thought I'd be so glad to see a wall of riot gear,_ Kenshin thought disjointedly as the emergency exit flew open, pushing Kaoru and Misao ahead of him into the safety of Uramura's team. Megumi and the detectives were a few stumbling steps behind; bloody, sunburned, and all but out on their feet with shock.

_But they're alive._ He let his eyes half-close, reaching out to the welcome fire of Sano and Yahiko's ki, some yards away in a Target Alpha armored van. _We're alive._

"Let me go!" Misao's voice was high, thin with tears. "I have to get to Aoshi!"

"Stockholm," Agent Levinson muttered under her breath. "It's okay, kid, everything's going to be all right now... soon as we level this place."

Kenshin snapped a glare at her. "You can't have gotten everyone out."

"Hey, work with a drug dealer, you take your chances." Rachel glared back. "They're _murderers._ What do you care?"

"Sagara reports this place is full of Virus," Uramura said grimly, taking in blood and bruises with an amazed shake of his head. "Himura. You know what they'll do if they get away."

_Feed. Kill. Destroy souls. I know._

_But Aoshi's still in there!_

Battling down fear, he dashed back inside.

_Not this way!_ part of his mind yammered at him. _Virus is this way - I don't want to go this way!_

_This,_ Kenshin told himself dryly, taking the stairs on trembling legs, _is when I could really use a talking sword. Nothing like a cool, calm, controlled assassin in your head to drown out little things like sanity._

But Battousai was only a steely spark of pain and a near-inaudible whimper. The runes had _hurt_ the sword-spirit, he could sense it.

_I'm here,_ Kenshin tried to reach out to steel. _I'm still here. Just hang on. You've got to hang on._

_After all, who else is going to tell me what an idiot I was after this, right?_

Blood and chaos.

Mounting another landing, Kenshin swallowed bile, shivering as crimson dripped down the stairs past him. The scent of tiger fur and opened bowels hung in the air. _Shikijou went down hard. Kami - is there anyone left to rescue?_

There. Just barely.

He dove into the steely knot by Han'nya's smoking form, cutting Animate and Ubo loose with sloppy zantetsu. _Shishou would be furious... forget proper form, we'll work on it later, just stay alive!_ "Run!"

Slipping, stumbling, they weren't going to make it-

Fire screamed overhead.

_...And I thought Sano was joking about the bazookas._

The blast rolled them out to the sidewalk. For what seemed like forever, Kenshin just sat there, twitching at explosion after explosion as black-masked Target Alpha members he'd never met stepped up to the doorway just long enough to fire in munitions that looked all too familiar.

Rachel caught his horrified stare, and grinned, all angry white teeth. "Caught some Persian Ekimmu ready to make trouble down by JFK a few weeks ago. Shame to let good shoulder-fired missiles go to waste, don't you think?"

_Too much hate,_ Kenshin shuddered. _Too much death..._

Aoshi was kneeling on the sidewalk with empty eyes, Han'nya's body crumbling in his arms.

_I've seen enough death!_

Only a flicker of ki left in the wire-laced form; he chased and caught it with a claw-grip on striped cloth. Closed his eyes, envisioning that frail flame. Reached within his own shredded strength. Offered it, a splinter at a time, tinder to a dying spark...

_Live._ Live. _You saved Misao; you tried to save Aoshi. You are not evil. Live._

_Let me save something from this horror..._

The spark flared.

Hands on his shoulders. Rough, but known. He would not strike them.

"Idiot-" made it past the roaring in his ears, "-why do I always-"

Pulse against his lips. _No!_

"Look," exasperation now, "you _know_ I'll shoot you if you take too much, so just stop worrying-"

Ah. Permission.

He abandoned himself to the warmth, and the darkness.

---------

_Lost - lost and alone - I can't feel, I can't_ feel _- Kenshin!_

Claws bit into flesh. Someone swore in Polish.

_You!_ Battousai snarled, pulling himself past mystic agony as if fighting quicksand. Slashing out, teeth and claws and feet, at this enemy he knew all too well. _Oh, you will not have me helpless in your grasp again, vampire..._

"You know," Goren's voice carried, faintly amused, "I wrap cats up in a towel, first."

Battousai blinked, breathing hard. _I am breathing. I have breath. I have a body._

A battered and bruised body, paper crinkling under him; an examining table, it felt like. His claws were touched with a black-haired Polish vampire's blood, and his fangs-

Tasted of Sano.

_Kenshin?_

:_So tired..._:

_Then rest, my heart,_ he whispered gently. _Only - tell me what happened. I was so worried._ One moment he'd been with his bearer, ready to fight to the death - the next, slammed into blind steel with the pain of a lightning strike. _I- I thought you were going to die..._

A weary chuckle. Images unfolded shyly; risks, guesses, fear...

_Well done._

Surprise.

_Very well done, my own,_ Battousai repeated softly. _I can carry us now. Rest._

Exhausted agreement. The other-self curled up next to him, drifting into slumber.

"Kenshin?" Sano ventured.

"He is - sleepwalking, I think. Or something very like it," Battousai said thoughtfully, glancing about the vampire doctor's overfilled examining room. _Everyone seems here, and only lightly wounded. Good._ "We are well enough. Though I am still," he ducked his head, embarrassed, "thirsty."

Sano snorted. "Yeah, like you ever feed enough when you're worried about people-"

"You can't just take over your host and say you're fine!" Dr. Doctor snorted, tying off a bandage around his arm. "Get back in that damn sword and let me talk to-"

"Kenshin is _asleep_," Battousai said coolly. "I will not disturb him simply for your convenience." He set his feet on the floor, testing the odd feel of his ki within flesh. "And I did not take him over. He is at rest, and allowing me to walk freely."

"That's impossible," the vampire said flatly. "Every moment you're in control of the host body injures the holder. We _know_ that."

Battousai lifted one red brow. "Spellbound to a host, it was impossible," he agreed mildly. "Now, it is not. I have told Target Alpha before; I will say it again. Kenshin Himura is my _bearer,_ not my host. I will not harm him." _Free. I am_ free, _as I have not been since-_

_Kyoto. _

_The Demon of Kyoto. Han'nya_ knows _me..._

He wove through the crowd of weary bodies, ruffling Yahiko's hair, granting Kaoru a shy smile. Stopped before a shadowed corner, where Aoshi sat watch by Han'nya's battered form, the Ubo's hand cuffed to steel claws by heavy, enchanted iron. _And there is watchful ki, if tired, close outside these walls... so Target Alpha has us all under guard. Why am I not surprised?_ "Intelligence master."

"I admit surprise, hitokiri." The Animate's voice was a thin, tired whisper. "Of all the powers it was known you still held in Target Alpha's keeping, healing was not one of them."

_"What?"_

Battousai ignored the sputtering vampire, focused on the thin mask-slits staring back at him. "It was known I could heal?"

"The survivor of those sent to take you at Yamagata's command reported your cub was struck by a spiral dart," Han'nya stated. "No child could have survived that without aid."

_Yamagata._ The confirmation was a cold chill down his spine. Yamagata Aritomo, Revolutionary turned head of Japan's armed forces, who had ever feared the redheaded assassin guarding Katsura Kogorou's back.

_But Katsura released me,_ he recalled, wisps of memory swirling up like smoke. _He promised - promised! - the government was done with me. That they would never trouble me again, so long as he lived-_

_Katsura - died only months before the attack..._

"Inuits heal!" Dr. Doctor was snarling. "Sidhe heal! Cursed swords _can't_-"

"He's done it," Sano said bluntly. "Shut up, damn it!"

"Hmph." A drawer rattled. Footsteps stomped off toward the clinic refrigerator.

_Ignore him,_ Battousai thought, heart hurting in his chest. His eyes prickled, hot and wet. _He does not matter. Only this matters._ "Kenji survived that night."

"He did," Han'nya said warily.

"Did he..." The sword-spirit had to swallow. "Did he survive London?"

Stunned silence.

"My first bearer died there," Battousai said thickly. _What is this pain? Like a knife to the heart, oh gods..._ "I remember telling Ame to take Kenji and flee, and then-" Too much. Shuddering, he sank to one knee; head bowed, eyes burning. "If I have won any debt of honor from the Oniwabanshuu, tell me!"

He could hear his own breath in the stillness. Why was it so still?

"I regret that most of our clan records have been lost," Han'nya said carefully. "Even if they had not been, your... final defense... of your family was apparently fatal to our team. There was, quite simply, no one left to report."

_No._ He felt hot salt spill free, let red bangs fall forward so his honorable enemy would not be forced to see. _No, it's not fair..._

Kaoru swallowed audibly. "So... Texas is going to try frying the thorns I caught?" she said into the grim silence.

"Yeah," Sano coughed. "Cement Dragon seems to think that took care of what was left in the building, so - yeah." He laughed a little. "Too bad you missed it, 'Sai. Haven't seen an Elemental step up and hand out a smack-down like that since the last time Red Moonrise tried to hit Liberty Island."

"There's one of those dragons on Liberty Island?" Eames gulped.

"Nope." Sano's grin was audible. "Elementals take forms that fit their dominions. So Liberty Island is - well, remember _Ghostbusters II?_"

"Please tell me he's joking," Eames said faintly.

"Flaming torch and all," Misao giggled.

"It's true," Megumi said softly. Some hope seemed to have crept back into her eyes, shy as a young sparrow. "The anger of a City Elemental is a wonderful sight. Though I doubt Virus thought so."

"Whole building - _whoosh_," Yahiko nodded hard. "Cinder city."

"And Target Alpha's going to explain that how?" Megumi murmured.

"Don't know, don't care," Sano said dryly. "We get at least one sick day tomorrow, and I'm taking it."

_Yes,_ Battousai thought tiredly, blinking to clear the drops from his eyes. _A day away... will be good._

"Here," Dr. Doctor growled under his breath, handing a sloshing bag of red to Aoshi. "Orders say to keep you alive until upstairs figures out who gets your hide." The dour vampire smirked, the chain that linked his lip to his right earlobe glinting in the muted light. "I hear it'll be a fascinating discussion. DuBuccio seems to think Battousai dragging you out is a point in your favor. Uramura and Falconi want you dead. Painfully. _Holstein_ wants you pithed and stumped for experiments. And on top of all that, it seems Kanryuu had links to very _interesting_ people now avidly trying to cover their own asses. So who knows where the buck will stop."

Aoshi flinched, but grimly took the packet of blood. Popped the cap, and raised it to his lips.

_No!_

It wasn't a thought; just a blur of reaction, to the crawling taint Battousai sensed within what should have been wholesome and healing. He _moved,_ plastic flexing clammily against his hand even as he eluded Aoshi's instinctive flinch from claws so near his face.

"On the balance," Battousai said levelly, heart like ice within his breast as he dumped the offending packet into the stainless-steel sink, "it seems Holstein's claim came first for you."

"What?" Han'nya struggled to rise. "What did you try to do to my Okashira!"

Alex wet her lips. "Let me guess. Drugged?"

"Worse." Amber burned into inhuman brown. "There is a disease Kin are prey to, that humans are not, which yet lingers in human flesh and blood."

"Nerve Rot!" Misao went white.

"Even I can't detect it without good time in a lab." The vampire gave Battousai a clinical look. "How do you always know?"

"Like you think he's going to tell you?" Kaoru's fists were bunched, obviously wishing for the vanished chair leg. "You _knew._ God, how can you even call yourself human?"

"I don't." Brown glinted deadly red. "I'm a vampire, Ms. Kamiya. Just because I know whose side is going to win... doesn't mean I like humans."

"Why, you-" Sano's hand clenched, itching for his gun.

Goren cleared his throat. "We're leaving now." He gathered the room with his eyes. "All of us."

"Think Target Alpha won't hurt you because you're cops?" Fang gleamed in the vampire's smirk. "You'll never make it past the front door."

"Want to bet?" Sano snapped.

"No," Battousai said coolly, gathering Yahiko's and Kaoru's gaze with his own, and giving Megumi's white-faced silence one reassuring glance, before lifting a sardonic stare to his partner. "He's right, Sanosuke. The _doors_ are far too well guarded."

_Kami, only let me remember how it is done!_

The swift blow of wolf-yellow eyes in Kyoto; the killing strike of his mortal enemies, the Shinsengumi. Sword drawn like a spray of silver, free hand along the blade to guide the thrust-

_Gatotsu!_

The wall exploded.

---------

_I can't believe we're doing this._

It took everything Kaoru had left to follow Battousai's lead. To stand, when all she wanted to do was fall over and pass out; to dive into the night and run, hands empty and weaponless, knowing Target Alpha was armed and angry and starved for revenge. They'd been out of danger, they'd been _safe-_

Only Aoshi wasn't safe at all. And that desperate look in two pairs of green eyes...

Cut Aoshi, and Misao would bleed.

So she gathered her stubbornness and followed that blaze of scarlet, knowing they were in no shape to fight. Nerves wailing with the anticipation of bullets, shrieking that this was a bad idea, _bad-_

_Misao is Battousai's friend. He's got to have a plan. Right?_

Ancient Japanese snapped and snarled into the night, cutting through the angry shouts as their watchers got over the shock of a wall blowing out in front of them. Battousai lifted one clawed, empty hand to the sky, slashing out to scribble kanji even as he ran. She could almost see the hurried lines, like waving grass, limned in hints of blue fire...

Wind gusted, sudden and sharp, stinging her cheeks with the fine grit of the city. Bits of newsprint blew past her hair. Breathless static seemed to fill the air, tense and filled with wonder as that brief instant when she'd _seen_ the hope of Chinatown appear as a concrete dragon, raining fire and death on their enemies. The gunshots...

Never came.

One turn. Another. The stitch in her side had grown to raking agony, blurring the night streets with angry tears.

_Just keep going. Just keep going. Just. Keep-_

Arms caught her. "Kaoru. Kaoru-dono. It's all right, it's all right, we can stop-"

She sobbed into his shoulder, fear and frustration and anger at the whole impossible night dripping into warm cotton. _I want my normal life back. I want not to know about monsters. I want people to stop shooting at me, damn it!_

"I know, Kaoru-dono. I know..."

"K-Kenshin?" she sniffled. "I - thought you were..."

"One can't sleep through Elementals, Kaoru-dono." Violet pulled back just enough to twinkle at her. "No matter how one might try."

"No - dragons," Eames panted, one hand plastered against the side of a bus stop shelter to keep her upright. "No - walking statues. What...?"

"Battousai... did not ask for a manifestation," Kenshin said slowly, as the others staggered up and caught their breath. "We... I think we asked for a _favor,_ that we did." He shook his head, stunned. "And - I think that it was granted."

"Can't see, don't shoot." Sano gulped air. "Standard training. Too many Kin can make you see what's not there. Or not see what is. Agents don't shoot if they can't see." He glanced back over his shoulder. "They're going to be on us. Soon."

"No," Goren said thoughtfully, pulling a cell phone out of his pocket. "No, I don't think so."

"We can't call the cops!" Yahiko burst out. "They've got people _in_ the station, you don't know-"

"Who said anything about going to the station?" The tall detective tilted his head at Kenshin.

Slowly, Kenshin smiled.

---------

"Welding torch," Samantha X muttered, her fingers ghosting over the side of Tyler's neck yet again, checking for any trace of another Kin's Drain. The crew-cut vampire's eyes were hard and dangerous, even if most of the angry red light had faded out of them. "Car crusher. I don't care how much magic's in that steel, this is the twenty-first century..."

"I'm _all right,_" Tyler repeated, trying not to shiver at the tickle of bass-callused fingertips. And then trying not to rub at a headache as Shagman Doctor D switched tracks from relatively light heavy metal to a personal hardcore mix that had Club Afterdark's late-night crowd slamming all over the dance floor. For a werewolf, Shagman was a great guy... but lycanthropic hearing meant there were ultrahigh notes mixed in that seemed to scratch at the back of a merely human skull. "Look. I could have left. Well, up to the point where he grabbed me for first aid patrol," the writer admitted. "But up until then... I was just _curious_."

The vampire snorted, eyes softening. "Reporter never dies, huh?"

Tyler shrugged, feeling red burn in his cheeks. "Guess not. I know, not the safest thing I could have done, but-"

"If you weren't curious, you wouldn't be here." Samantha gave him a crooked smile. "Just think next time, 'kay? James still needs you in one piece." Her eyes narrowed again. "Maybe a diamond saw..."

Tyler choked back a laugh. "I'm sure you can work out how to dismember a sword later," he said wryly. "You saw how he stomped out of here the other night. What are the odds he's going to come anywhere near this place-"

Shagman's speakers screeched. Thudded silent. Tyler darted a quick glance toward the shocked werewolf, then jerked his head to follow the room's collective stare.

Samantha blew out a sharp breath. "You were saying?"

_They look like they've been through a war,_ Tyler realized in that utter silence. Bandages, bloodstains, pure and utter exhaustion plastered across every semi-human face. The one inhuman mask wasn't even looking up, just leaning on a young woman with a long blue-black braid and a tall guy whose battered white trenchcoat shouted Ubo to the world. _A real war._

"Not the usual way we kill a party," Detective Eames observed wryly.

"Don't worry about it; I'm sure there's a dead body around here somewhere." Sanosuke Sagara clapped a hand on Kenshin's shoulder, almost knocking the bloodied redhead off his feet. "Listen up, people! We've been sworn at, shot at, stabbed, kidnapped, rescued, blown up, and damn near electric sushi-fied by Virus. For the slower guys in the room, and you know who you are, we've had a _really bad day!_" He took a deep breath, angry eyes searching the room for challenges. "And now, we plan to get drunk. And then, we plan to go home. And if anybody gets the bright idea to try bending this plan out of shape-" Deliberately, Sano cracked his knuckles. "I'm just going to have to do a little bending myself. Got it?"

Kenshin sighed, hand cupping his face in exhausted exasperation. "I can't take you _anywhere_..."

"You can take him to the back." Golgotha's quiet words cut through the first rising mutter from the crowd, as the master vampire himself stalked into view. "Take it you have reason for bare steel in my club, Battousai?"

Tyler froze, seeing the blade stuck under the white obi. _Oh, fu-_

"My saya met with an... unavoidable accident," Kenshin said levelly.

The trenchcoat snorted.

"As Sano said, we only need a little," Kenshin hesitated, "peace."

"And a chisel," the trenchcoat observed coolly.

_Say what?_ Tyler blinked.

Golgotha looked over the iron chaining the trenchcoat to the wiry Animate. Glanced over the battered and bruised detectives, Witch, and kendo practitioners, before raising one thick brow at Kenshin.

"Oro?"

"This," Golgotha said in that low, gravelly voice that reminded Tyler of a mountain on its first cup of coffee, "had better be one heck of a story." He nodded at the crowd. Kin parted in a reluctant wave, opening a path to the privacy of the back booths.

_One heck of a story, oh yeah,_ Tyler thought, stomping a sudden swell of curiosity. _How can I get some details out of Golgotha later-_

A throat cleared in front of him. Tyler looked up into ancient, amused eyes. "You two mind getting trays from Phil?" the master vampire asked. "I don't want them walking through this crowd."

"They're _Target Alpha,_" Samantha almost growled.

"Exactly."

The younger vampiress sighed. "Wasn't you, Golly, I wouldn't do this. Red beer?"

"Better bring out a whole pitcher. Shinomori looks bad."

_"Shinomori?"_ Samantha almost yelped. "But he-"

"Isn't working for Kanryuu anymore, or he wouldn't be here," Golgotha stated. "Makes me curious." The ancient gaze turned back to Tyler. "Tell Phil you need some colas, juice for the kid and Kamiya, scotch on the rocks for the cops, and a full glitterwarm."

_Whoa. Serious._ The carved white jade of glitterwarms might be fairly new on the Kin scene, but Tyler had already seen how valuable the enchanted stones were to lifeforce-starved Kin. Samantha's friend Anne-Marie kept one in her bag just in case. Spell-flingers might be closer to humanity than any other Kin, but magic wasn't free. Every time you warped the world, the payback came right out of your own lifeforce. Witches were limited to their own strength, and whatever power their coven could raise. Sorcerers... faced a darker hunger.

Most Animates wouldn't go near a glitterwarm. But then, most Animates thought Herds were walking bags of meat and lifeforce, just waiting to be sucked dry.

_So either this guy's one of the good guys, or Golgotha just doesn't want him trying to eat somebody in the club._ Taking the laden tray from Phil with a thankful nod, Tyler braced himself for the walk back through a hostile crowd. _Time to find out which._

"Why here, damn it?" Samantha snarled under her breath, taking the lead. "Damn sword is death and chaos on two feet. Why the hell did he have to come here?"

"Golgotha," Tyler said practically. "I think Battousai trusts him. Sort of. And Kenshin respects him."

She snorted. "Trusts him? The guy who told Golly - _Golgotha,_ no less - never to touch his kid again?"

Tyler shook his head. "That was Kenshin." _I think._

Samantha gave him the kind of look he'd gotten from a bus driver half a day ago, but kept her mouth shut as they got into listening range of the booths.

_Plural,_ Tyler noted, now understanding why Phil had insisted on two pitchers of blood. Shinomori and the long-braided girl were propping up the masked Animate in one of the tiny booths in the back, not so much talking as staring at each other with interruptions of incoherent syllables. Sano had grabbed the largest booth in easy sight of Shinomori, sitting in casual guard on the outward edge while Megumi slumped into the corner cushions; a red-and-blue knot on the other side marked where Kaoru and the Himuras huddled together in boneless exhaustion. The cops had grabbed yet another of the tiny booths and were talking intently to Golgotha; or at least Goren was talking, eyes alight with avid interest. Eames was trying hard not to stare, eyes going from Wyghts to Asrai to partially furred-out werewolves with a world-weary expression a bare heartbeat from blank shock.

"Somebody needs backup," Samantha muttered. "You mind? Us girls got to stick together."

"Oh yeah; go save the big bad homicide cop from us poor innocent man-eating supernaturals," Tyler muttered back.

"Right on." Samantha grinned at him, all mischief and fangs.

Snickering, Tyler traded off drinks with the vampiress so she didn't shock the cops too much, then hefted his now-heavier tray and headed for Shinomori's booth. The braided girl broke off her latest stammer with a blush, just long enough to grab the glitterwarm off Tyler's tray and press it into metal claws. "Um, thanks - hi - Misao, is me, um-"

"Breathe," Tyler advised, trying not to look too hard at the way her hand crept back to Shinomori's, the way the Ubo's clutched hers like a lifeline. _Oh hell. They're serious. Not my problem, not my problem... damn, they did get a chisel. Yow._

And unless he'd been suddenly struck blind, Shinomori and the Animate were now each sporting halves of what had been a Target Alpha enchanted manacle.

_But Battousai works_ for _Target Alpha... I am officially confused._

Leaving one pitcher with Shinomori, Tyler headed over to the source of the problem. "Somebody order red beer?"

"Red-?" Kaoru's eyes widened as Kenshin let her go long enough to pour an opaque mug of crimson. "...Oh."

"I shock you." Red bangs fell forward, obscuring the tell-tale eyes. "I'm sorry."

"No." The kendo teacher swallowed hard. "You need - what you need. It's just a little weird to see it in public."

"Club's not exactly public," Tyler pointed out. Nodded toward the door all the way across the dance floor. "Nobody who's not Crowley gets through that door and comes out alive."

"And you live with that." Blue eyes bored into him, shamelessly indignant.

"Some days better than others," Tyler admitted. "Golgotha's a friend. Samantha's my girlfriend, and she's kept me alive when some of the bad parts of town strolled my way. Not to mention, Samantha's friends kept me from catching a serious case of dead from some Stake jerks with more Uzis than brains." Setting down the tray, he let his shoulders fall. "These are my people now." Glancing at Sano, he raised an eyebrow. "So what happened?"

"God, what didn't?" The agent knuckled his eyebrows. "Why him, partner?"

"First, he was there," Kenshin noted tiredly. "Second - Tyler _was_ a reporter, Sanosuke. And Katsu is a printer."

Sano gave the redhead a sharp look. "Not following you."

"Virus has some other goal besides feeding and spreading," the swordsman stated. "Whatever that goal may be, I cannot think it bodes anything but ill for us. _All_ of us - Kin, Herd, Crowley, and Target Alpha alike. And yet, all we have been able to do is track Virus by rumors and trace evidence... which can be rather hard to come by when Kin have cleaned and flossed, or Uramura and his ilk have played with fire." Violet eyes turned on Tyler. "All the Kin community runs on rumors. Surely, there must be a better way."

The writer's jaw dropped. "You want me to start a _newspaper?_"

"Perhaps only a newsletter?" Kenshin gave him a half-smile. "Gamers create such things. Medieval re-enactors, as well. Surely, it could not be beyond the grasp of a _creative_ writer to sketch out true tales, that yet would seem only fantasy to any unknowing Herd who should happen on such a broadsheet."

_Ooo, ow._ Direct strike to the ego, there. _He did that on purpose, damn it._ Yet even knowing that, Tyler couldn't help feeling a thrill at the challenge of the idea. _Could kind of dress it up as Goth-hardcore fantasy, get some of the other Kin I know to write a few bits... heck, Samantha wrote a review for the Rite of Spring when it came out, she'd have just the kind of archaic touch that would make humans think it was just a game..._

"Interesting idea."

_Eeep!_ Tyler managed not to leap out of his sneakers at the gravelly words, heart pounding. Why did Golgotha have to be so _quiet?_

"Goren filled me in," the vampire elder said directly to Kenshin. "Man lands on his feet; he'll do for Crowley, though I think he might just be dropping in on a priest friend of mine later. Good for him. Eames I may have to work on a little. Samantha's got her calm for now, but-" A muscled shrug.

Violet blinked, and amber looked up. "Detective Eames is under my protection," Battousai said carefully, "in that she was entangled in Kanryuu's web with the rest of us, and so at risk from Target Alpha's... hasty reactions... if she remained. However, now that I have brought her to a place of sanctuary, it would be unjust of me to interfere in her life and mind any more than is necessary for the defense of those who were and will remain under my protection."

Golgotha smiled slowly. "Good call, youngster." Snorted at a sharp look from amber. "Century and half, sure. You're still a kid, far as I'm concerned. I'll talk to Goren. See what he thinks his partner can handle. Meanwhile... Shinomori."

Silent, Battousai took a lump of crushed silver out from between the layers of his gi.

Golgotha let him drop it into one large palm, lip curled up as if he were holding a dead roach. "Tell me this isn't what I think it is."

"An enslaving item." Megumi didn't lift her eyes from her soda.

Pure horror sleeted down Tyler's spine. _Oh hell - I thought those were Kin urban legends!_ "You mean, all that time he was working for Kanryuu-"

"Trapped in his own mind," Golgotha stated. "There's a special hell for people who do things like that." Dark eyed regarded Battousai. "You send him there?"

Kaoru shuddered. "I think Virus ate him first."

For once, Golgotha's smile wasn't pleasant. "Good."

"I should have seen it," the Witch said numbly. "But when it was whole, I just - I just couldn't. All of it fit together, just a slickness in the magic about him. Now that it's broken-" she swallowed hard. "I recognize some of the pieces."

"Megumi?" Worry drew Kaoru's brows down. "We're okay. We're _alive_."

"Until Virus comes for me again." Megumi's voice was calm. Matter of fact. Hopeless. "It will. Soon. There's no place I can hide. Nowhere I can go."

"Not quite true," Golgotha noted.

Megumi laughed bitterly. "Somehow, I don't think Liberty Island would want to add me to their problems."

"Wasn't thinking of there." The vampire tossed silver in his hand, claw-marks catching the light. "Only one coven I know of in the States that ever pulled these things off. So. You're the lady with the link into the pool under _Wonderful Things?_"

Megumi blinked. "Dullahan's old magic supply shop?" She frowned. "I was told he died - oh, must be a decade or so ago, now..."

"He did," Sano spoke up, as the Himuras' jaws dropped and Karou gave Kenshin a wide-eyed stare. "Shop's still running, though. Only the current owners were kind of clueless about what the place really _was_. And on top of all that, they've got - well, a couple family problems to sort out. Chews up a lot of their time. Bet they could use an extra hand. If somebody asked nice."

"And the wards," Kenshin breathed. "The wards would keep you safe."

"_You_ know about the wards?" Megumi gave him an odd look.

"Well he should," Yahiko said wryly. "He spent most of a year hiding from a crazy Inuit ex-girlfriend inside them."

"Please let her have moved out of New York," Kenshin muttered. "_Anywhere_ outside of New York."

"Hell's good," Yahiko nodded.

"Yahiko!" Kaoru frowned.

"Hey! She tried to make my big brother into a life-sucking maniac, 'cause she thought he owed her for the werewolves his mom took down before they _ate_ her. I kind of think I'm _entitled_ to wish her someplace extra crispy."

"Your mother was-" Megumi shook her head. "You mean, you were Crowley _before_ this rooster-head picked you up?"

"Hey! Lay off the hair!"

"No," Kenshin bit out. "I only seem to have horrible luck in _attracting_ unnatural attention. Would I knew why," he muttered.

"That, I think I can explain." Shadows seemed to shift just out of Tyler's view; the writer jumped back, as the Animate's mask of a face blurred into sight. "Shinta Noguchi."

Kenshin's fingers dug into the table. "As I told the detectives, I don't go by that name-"

"Who said _you_ did, Himura?"

Sano's hand didn't quite near his gun. "Want to explain that little remark?" the agent said flatly.

"There was no one to report back from London, no. But there were reports that led our clan _to_ London. And those, I did know of." Red glinted in mask-slits as the Animate studied the swordsman. "Even in the confusion of Meiji, Battousai, you knew you could not win free of pursuit by strength alone. So your family fled under other names. Shinta Noguchi. Ame Noguchi. And Kenji Noguchi."

---------

_Kenji Noguchi._

Hisofu _Kenji..._

:_My son!_: Battousai dove for the flicker of memory, cupping it in unseen hands to blow it to a flame. :_What do you know of my son?_:

_So long ago..._

A desperate, fanged snarl, as a soul of steel drove into his brain. :_You. Will. Remember!_:

Fire and _pain_ and darkness-

Quiet. The soft warmth of a blanket. The comfort of an adult's heartbeat in his ears, as strong arms cradled him.

And the new, rich taste of crimson, as he sucked on a clawed fingertip.

"Failure to thrive." Great-grandfather's voice was a soft hiss of anger, swiftly damped as the small life in his arms stirred restlessly. "Thomas, _why_ didn't you call me? The cub's nothing but skin and bones; a few more days, and-" He bit off the thought, stroking the small head. "You'll need sterile knives. He won't have teeth enough to break skin for months yet."

"Teeth!" Father's voice vibrated with rage, not damped at all. "For god's sake, babies do not drink blood!"

"In the womb, they exist on nothing else," Kenji said dryly. "It's only after the delivery that he lacked what he needed." His voice softened, gray-touched red hair falling into reach of small hands. "Well, little one. No wonder you drove your mother into eating rare meat, hmm? Shh, everything will be well now..."

And it was, it was so much better; the new taste was driving that horrible creeping cold of _not-enough_ away-

"You can't expect me to tell _my wife_ she needs to cut herself to feed our son!"

"If you don't want Eileen involved, keep your voice down." Kenji's voice was soft, but dangerous. "I told you who she was to you before you got the marriage license."

"Your mother's Irish great-granddaughter. Or so _you_ say," Father grumbled. "So we're - what, third or fourth cousins? That doesn't explain-"

"My parents were _different,_ Thomas." Kenji's tone never changed, though his free hand stroked the fear away. "You are different. You prove it, every time you draw the shadows around you to deceive mortal eyes. And Eileen is different. She feels truth, and lies, and seeks the one to destroy the other." A quiet laugh. "This little one was just lucky enough to get it from both sides."

_"Lucky-!" _

"He's beautiful." Kenji's breath caught. "Haven't you seen his eyes? I never thought I'd see Ame's eyes again..."

"_Your_ eyes."

"Thomas-"

"I can't do this!" Footsteps trembled the room as Father stalked away; flung hands ruffled the air, as he whirled back. "You're telling me my child, my _son_... isn't..." Words failed him. He sucked in a breath. "What if... the doctor already thinks he's not... if we tried again..."

A low growl vibrated through the arms holding him. "You would _dare_... gods, I should let you be a fool! And when your blood and Eileen's mingled once more, carrying that heritage of my father's, I would watch you from the shadows and _take_ the next cub before you could kill it!" The growl died into grief. "As I will take Shinta now."

"No!" Hands caught at his blanket. "No, please!"

"You try my patience, Grandson." Again, the chill voice. And the wonderful warm crimson slipped away from his tongue, as Great-grandfather dropped one hand near his waist.

"I just don't know what to do," Father admitted; voice strained, as if the words had to fight their way past his lips. "You say he needs blood. That he's... like you... god, what if he really _is_ like you? I don't - I don't know how to raise a baby with claws, I just don't..."

"Well." Great-grandfather's tone softened, almost playful. "Mine didn't grow in until I was almost seven. So I would say you have some time to think about it." A rustle of cloth, and suddenly there were two bodies pressed against the blanket. "It's all right, Thomas; it's all right, he's your little one, and he loves you-"

Crying. Father was crying.

But the bloody finger had slipped back into his mouth, and sucking away that hunger was far more important. Red... warm... sleepy...

"After all, at least you know it _can_ happen," Kenji's fading voice chuckled. "I don't think I'll ever forget the look on Mother's face when she caught me up that tree..."

---------

"Kenshin?" Sano's hand was shaking him. "Yo, earth to Kenshin!"

_Ow._

:_I'm... sorry..._:

_No you're not,_ Kenshin thought blearily. Something hard was pressing against his cheek. A table?

:_No, I'm not,_: the sword-spirit admitted. :_It's only... I've wanted to know for so long._:

_And now we have even more questions._ Kenshin winced, prying himself off the tabletop. "I'm all right. Battousai only went looking for something. Which I'd prefer he _not_ do again until we're home. And safe."

:_I'll only sift,_: the sword-spirit promised, chastened. :_Now that I have the first shred of your memory, others may rise to join it... He was alive! Oh gods, he was alive - and he was good, and honorable, and defiant as Ame ever was..._:

Kenshin swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to focus on the practicalities through that incandescent joy. "I'm all right," he repeated gently, to Kaoru's worried hand on his shoulder. "It's only - Han'nya is right."

"You mean - Great-grandpa Kenji-" Yahiko stammered.

"He was."

"Sitting down now," Yahiko said faintly.

"You're already sitting, brat," Sano snarked.

"Good for me." Yahiko drained half his juice in one gulp.

Kenshin sniffed, and stifled an aggravated growl. _Meddling again, Golgotha?_ He tensed claws on the table, and deliberately relaxed. _Let it go. We need him. For Misao's sake._ "As much as I appreciate the information, Han'nya, we have a more pressing problem."

"As in, Target Alpha wants blood," Sano pointed out. "Preferably, your Okashira's."

The Animate _tch_ed. "You must have taken one too many blows tonight, Battousai."

Kenshin raised an eyebrow.

"Aoshi-san needs a _distraction,_" the onmitsu smirked, mask crackling into a wicked smile. "And how better to distract DuBuccio and his ilk than to thieve away their right to their own personal Kin assassin?"

Kaoru choked. Put her drink down with nerveless fingers. "It's your sword."

_Well, technically, I guess,_ Kenshin thought wryly. Took a second look, as both Golgotha and Sano took this news in with sober faces. "What?"

"Government has a policy of returning heirloom swords to their families," Golgotha said plainly. "Even if you can't prove it on paper, if you're Battousai's descendant - the agency's got no more right to hold it."

Kenshin felt Battousai stir. Seize that thought. Examine it, keen as the dewdrop lens on a leaf, from every possible angle.

:_Yes._:

Drawing a deep breath, Kenshin nodded. "I need a phone."

---------

Leaning against the wall outside tBuku's bunker office, Uramura stroked the touch-pad of his laptop, examining digital shot after shot of the rubble of Kanryuu's mansion and the smaller wreck of Dr. Doctor's wall. _Damn. Almost makes me wish I could get that pair on my team._

A wish evidently not shared by Natasha Falconi, as the Sorceress all but vibrated through the checkpoints, metal detectors, and various mystical wards that led into this concrete corridor. "Why are we being held back?" she snapped, British accent more evident than usual. "We know where that damnable killer is!"

_Don't take it personal,_ Uramura reminded himself. _Falconi and tBuku. Oil and water. Or maybe oil and a blowtorch._ tBuku didn't _like_ Kin. The fact that New York's Commander of Field Operations had to work with a Sorceress as ENO Liaison anyway, if he wanted to keep his human field operatives alive, put both their noses out of joint. "You want to raid Club AfterDark?" Uramura asked politely. "I'll be behind you. Very, _very_ far behind you, with all the armor plating I can beg, borrow, or steal." The field team leader gave her a sardonic look. "Golgotha and DuBuccio have an agreement. You know that."

"Yes; and agreements are subject to change," the Sorceress said darkly.

"I heard you thought he was cute," Uramura observed offhand.

"Kenshin? Certainly," Natasha stated, miffed. "However, even looking like a winsome lost kitten doesn't excuse what he's allowed that sword to do. To aid and abet Shinomori's escape-!"

Yes; that burned at Uramura, too. The recordings at Holstein's lab were clear. The Ubo might not have taken any lives in that massacre himself, but he'd definitely been the guiding hand.

_Yet Himura went back into that hellhole after him,_ Uramura thought reluctantly. _Battousai's a lot of things, but he's practical. He wouldn't have tried to save an irredeemable killer._

_Would he?_

It could have been just for Misao's sake. God knew the reaction of vampire victims to their vampire being staked could range from the simply hysterical to truly life-threatening. And she _was_ a victim, Uramura believed that down to the core of his soul. For all her odd habits and sometimes-grating bubbly enthusiasm, Misao Makimachi was one of the few truly good people he'd ever met. Heck, she'd even befriended that blood-soaked blade...

_Which makes it all the more likely Battousai would take drastic action to help her,_

Uramura admitted to himself. _Even helping a cop-killer. It's not like the rest of us gave him any reason to care about the Agency._

He looked down, trying to quell the gnawing sense of shame that thought raised. It wasn't as if he'd done anything wrong. He was a good field agent. One of the best. He'd kept his people alive in some of the hairiest situations ever seen by Herd or Kin on the face of the planet.

_But Nez is dead. _

Dead, and cremated after, just to be sure Virus had no chance to reanimate his corpse. Theoretically, Virus needed hours to Infect. Practically speaking, nobody who'd ever come up against the blasted things felt inclined to take chances.

_Sagara and Battousai went down to the pool anchor and lived. We went down there to clean it up - and Nez died._

Irrational. Virus had its own, obscure goals; who could say why it only came in ones and twos at one time, and hordes at another?

Even so, part of him couldn't help but hate them.

Still. All the grief and rage and hunger for revenge couldn't wipe out the fact that he _knew_ that crazy pair. And neither Sagara nor Battousai had ever, _ever_ betrayed Target Alpha.

_And there was something just a little furtive about how that damn vampire was acting... why would Dr. Doctor ever dump perfectly good blood down the sink? _

Simple. He wouldn't.

_So. Who do I believe? My human superiors? Or a Kin-loving agent and his sword-spirit partner, who've always been reliable backup no matter how much I despised them?_

God, what a question.

All things considered, Uramura was just as glad they'd been called off before they'd reached Club AfterDark. He was _tired_. All his people were tired.

_And like it says in the manual,_ Uramura thought darkly, _go up against Kin unprepared, you get one of two results. A severe reprimand in your file - or the Agency claiming your body from the local morgue._

The steel door slid open.

Eyes glittering, Natasha marched in. Uramura followed in her wake, drawing on years in the field to be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible. _This feels bad. Very, very bad..._

tBuku was smiling.

Uramura's stomach dropped somewhere around his ankles. _Oh yes. This is bad._

"Falconi. Uramura." Seated behind a desk that was oak over reinforced steel, the tall African-American waved a genteel hand at empty chairs. "I don't think this will take long, but I know you've been up all night..."

Trying not to wince, Uramura dropped into the right-hand chair. _God, shoot me now and get it over with._ Not that Dr. James nGao tBuku ever raised his voice. God, no. A Berkeley philosopher, descend to petty histrionics? Never.

Verbal flaying, though - he'd rather face tBuku's aim. At least that would be a quick death.

"The situation is in flux even as we speak, so I'll get to the point." tBuku's smile sharpened slightly. "Just how did Battousai get DuBuccio's home phone number?"

Natasha blinked. "He has - dear gods, even I don't have that one!"

"Your husband's been known to call our Deputy Director direct," tBuku noted.

"Harvey does have it, yes," Natasha nodded stiffly. "I don't. It's policy."

"ENOs don't need to know where our fearless leader sleeps. Exactly." tBuku turned his gaze on Uramura. "A policy this particular enchanted item seems to have ignored."

_Makimachi,_ was Uramura's first thought. He rarely visited the R&D labs, field teams steered clear for security purposes, but he'd heard Sagara's comments on the little computer wizard. If anyone in Battousai's crowd had pried into records to find DuBuccio, she was the most likely culprit. _But she's already in it up to her neck as it is. And I don't_ know _she's to blame._ "He's an assassin," Uramura said bluntly. "He knows where all of us sleep."

"Really." tBuku raised a skeptical brow. "You seem rather sanguine about that."

"He has an agreement with us." Uramura didn't let his tone change. "Backed up by binding spells."

"Spells that aren't really working anymore," tBuku observed, almost offhandedly. "Not that you would have known that, Uramura, it was classified - but the magical contracts placed on that blade should have prevented it from taking any host without Target Alpha intervention. Which means I do owe you an apology, Ms. Falconi. I admit, I thought your people's spellwork was flawed. After all, so long as that sword was legally Target Alpha property, it shouldn't have mattered if a _bug_ picked it up. Much less a civilian. He should have stayed bound."

"So long as it was...?" Natasha looked a bit wild about the eyes.

tBuku dusted off his hands. "Oh, I suppose you haven't gotten the word yet." His voice turned hard. "According to our Deputy Director, Battousai is the Himura family sword."

Silence. Uramura swore he could hear a spider creeping out of a corner to start a web, and thinking better of it.

"So after decades of good work for us, a killing sword finds its way into the hands of one of the two people on the face of this planet who could cut it loose," tBuku observed. "Does anyone but me think this is _not_ a coincidence?"

_But... I saw Himura's face, after he helped us rescue Debrowski,_ Uramura thought, troubled. _He was just as surprised as the rest of us. That wasn't a plan. That was a man who had to do the right thing, even if it scared him to death._

"And now instead of a useful bound killer who could change IDs as easily as we change socks, we have an ENO agent with a distinctly _legitimate_ identity who's already made some allies among the police," tBuku said dryly. "The IRS paperwork for paying the bastard is probably only the first layer of his revenge."

Uramura choked back a snicker. _Himura got a salary out of the Agency? I have got to talk to him!_ Not that the Agency was _stingy,_ exactly; cut costs on silver bullets, you'd shortly be paying out for funerals and training new agents. But arguing new equipment out of Accounting was always... interesting.

_Which means he's not just a hired ENO,_ Uramura realized. _DuBuccio really does want him as an agent._ Most ENOs Target Alpha picked up for a mission or two worked strictly quid pro quo; help out on an investigation or assault, get your record whitewashed of feeding-related crimes. ENO _agents_ - not common. Not common at all.

_Well, think about it,_ Uramura told himself. _Sagara's been working with Battousai for over two years now. Why break up a good team?_

_Shinomori,_ burning anger reminded him.

Yes. Well. At the moment, Shinomori and Makimachi weren't separate problems. And... damn it, the dead were _dead._ Makimachi was alive.

He was a Target Alpha agent. He'd taken an oath to protect the citizens of his country from supernatural predators. Even bubbly, irritating, computer-hacker vampire-victim citizens.

_Talk to Himura,_ Uramura started a mental list. _Talk to Sagara. Feckless as he may be, Sagara thinks of Makimachi as a little sister. He's got to be working on how to break her loose already. _

_Once Makimachi's safe... stake, razors, and garlic oil. And I'll take a_ very _long time._

"So as I understand it, _Agent_ Himura is my problem," Natasha observed dryly.

"For the moment," tBuku said, just as dry. "And yours, Uramura, given how often your team ends up coordinating with Sagara. Treat them like any other Triborough team. But watch him. Battousai evidently has a plan, and I want to know what it is before it happens." He stood, jerking his head toward the door. "And find out where the hell he's stashed Shinomori!"

---------

_Knocking, knocking... will beat the head in of whoever's knocking, I swear,_ Kaoru thought fuzzily, turning over in bed.

_Thunk._

She blinked away stars, working her jaw to be sure it was still in one piece after running headlong into someone's shoulder. _Someone's in my bed. I have another_ person _in my bed! Aaah, bar, bad idea, date rape-!_

Something long and warm and corded fell into Kaoru's face; she bit back a shriek, grabbing it to strangle-

Misao's braid.

Kaoru pried herself semi-upright, peering through curtained sunlight to study the wan girl sprawling over more than her half of the mattress. _Misao's... in my bed._

_Right; she couldn't go home, Target Alpha's still breathing fire. And Megumi's got my couch. And Sano's got Kenshin's couch - not that I'd dump Misao in the same apartment with that idiot, she's having a bad enough week. So I volunteered. Yay me. _

_Air mattress. I need an air mattress. Big time._

And someone was still knocking.

A sigh, more felt than heard. No sound of footsteps, but after a moment she heard a door open, and a familiar tread walk in rooms away.

"There seems to be a vampire buried in the courtyard garden," Dr. Gensai's voice carried to her. "Now, I know you wouldn't bring anyone home who'd threaten my granddaughters, young man... still, I believe a few explanations are in order?"

"Oro..."

Startled, Kaoru leaned a little closer to the conversation-

_Thump._

_Ow..._

Well. At least she was up. Sort of.

Glaring at an oblivious Misao snuggling into her pillow, Kaoru huffed out a sigh, picked herself off the floor, and headed for the awkward mumble of Kenshin stumbling through exactly what had happened last night.

_"Virus?!?"_

_Yep, that's what I thought,_ Kaoru thought wryly, heading through the hole in her wall. _Kenshin, you're a good guy._ Too _good a guy. I bet you never got in the kind of trouble you had to explain to your parents, did you?_ "It's not as bad as he's making it sound, Dr. Gensai-"

Gensai choked. "Little Kaoru?"

_And... I'm in a t-shirt and my underwear. In Kenshin's apartment._ Red flushed her cheeks; Kaoru froze in place just outside Misao's hole, hoping the floor would swallow her. "This isn't what it looks like!"

Gensai blinked. "Really."

_When in doubt, attack!_ She snapped her gaze to her redheaded neighbor and involuntary apartment sharer. "Don't tell me you told him about the rest of last night and left out what Misao did to my wall?"

Silence.

"Kenshin?"

The redhead's jaw worked, but no sound came out. A fiery blush burned across his face. He jerked his eyes away, red bangs falling forward, hands clenching slightly by his sides as he focused on Gensai. "Yes... well... it was a wiring requirement..."

"Oh?" Salacious amusement salted the Sorcerer's tone. "Making connections, are we?"

"Miss Kaoru's not like that!"

_Strategic retreat time,_ Kaoru decided, seeing Sano grumble something in his sleep. Bad enough her family doctor saw her in her skivvies; if the rooster-head did, she'd never live it down.

_Bathroom,_ Kaoru told herself firmly, darting inside it. _Teeth. Face._

After all, if she focused on toothpaste and soap and facecloths, maybe she could forget that spark of amber in violet. The mix of wonder and hunger and desire that had made her heart lurch, like stepping into the dojo against one of Maekawa's colleagues for the first time...

_Breathe,_ Kaoru reminded herself. _This is Kenshin. He's not going to do... well, he's not. And if he were, all I'd have to do to distract him would be pick up a hairbrush. _

_Of course, then I'd have to figure out what to do when I stopped brushing..._

Clothes. Necessities tended to. All of which should have burned up a good fifteen minutes by her estimation. Plenty of time for even Kenshin to untangle his tongue and get Gensai out of there.

_Well, almost,_ Kaoru thought wryly, peeking through the hole to see the pair of them at her neighbor's front door, Kenshin still faintly pink, and Gensai chuckling under his breath.

But Kenshin took a deep breath and let it out, raising his gaze to the doctor's. "Gensai-isha... have you ever heard of _failure to thrive?_"

The laughter was wiped off the doctor's face. Sober dark eyes regarded the swordsman. "Where's the child? Who's handling the case?"

Kenshin almost stepped back. "It... was merely overheard, many years ago..."

"Likely too late, then." Gensai shook his head. "It's a catch-all, I'm afraid," the doctor said soberly. "The guardians are doing everything right, or _say_ they are, but the youngster isn't growing as he should. Sometimes it means abuse. Or merely neglect; a lack of love can simply be fatal to some children. Others, it's a marker of something physically wrong; an undiagnosed nutritional deficiency, or worse."

"Like a Kin's child, needing blood," Kenshin said softly.

Gray brows went up. "It's rare, but I have heard of that in a vampire's living offspring," Gensai observed. "Usually the children grow out of the vampiric traits. Mostly. May I ask where...?"

Kenshin swallowed. "Perhaps later," he said stiffly. "I can't- I-"

Kaoru froze. _No. Oh no. He can't mean-_

Gensai blinked. "You overhead it _years_ ago..." He let out a slow breath. "Oh dear gods, that must be a hard thing to learn about your parents. Does Yahiko-?"

"No!" Claws clenched. "It's - not what you think. I know _who_ my parents were. I just - they weren't-"

The doctor let out a sigh, and reached out to lay a hand on a stiff shoulder. "When you feel up to it, tell me," he said gently. "I know it's hard. But if you're not speaking of a vampire in the family tree, and whatever it is you are referring to came through your father's line..."

"Yahiko's affected. Yes." Kenshin's voice was tight. Desperate. "I know how to treat the blood I have so it's safe for him. It's just a variant on Healing..." Violet eyes lifted, tear-bright and distant. "It's what Battousai used to do for Kenji."

Stunned, Kaoru swallowed hard. Braced herself, and headed for Gensai as deliberately as she would an over-arrogant journeyman student. "Okay. That's enough." Ignoring the doctor's protests, she took a firm and deliberate hold to steer Gensai out the door. "He'll talk to you later. I promise. But not before coffee!"

_Slam._

"Gnrgh... keep it down, f'goodness sake..." Sano's mumble drifted to her ears.

_Great,_ Kaoru thought dryly, patting Kenshin's arm with a comforting smile. _So much for getting the idiot to talk. If he won't tell Gensai, no way is he going to 'fess up with Sano listening._

:_Ah, but Kamiya-sensei..._: a cool breeze seemed to tease her thoughts:_we don't need to_ talk.:

_Eeep!_

A tickling laugh. :_You didn't notice I was here? Ah, Kaoru, my rose of kenjutsu-_:

_Don't you even start!_ Kaoru thought furiously toward the steel sheathed at Kenshin's side. _You didn't catch me leering at_ you _before Golgotha got one of his people to bring you a new saya! Not that I would,_ she sniffed. _Naked steel. Not pretty._

:_No,_: came the soft, regretful reply. :_I suppose not._:

And now Kenshin was looking at her like a rain-lost kitten. Darn it. "Coffee," Kaoru muttered under her breath, and headed for her kitchen.

Hot water. Steaming mugs. And two - well, sort-of three - people awkwardly leaning against her kitchen counter. Kaoru swallowed, and steeled her nerve. "So. Yahiko?"

"My influence. Or... possibly what we both inherited from our father, breaking loose at last. I don't know." Kenshin wouldn't lift his eyes from his mug. "He's not Kin. But he's not - ordinary. Not anymore." His voice dropped to a near-whisper. "And I guess I never was."

Kaoru caught her lip between her teeth. "You don't have to talk about it."

"I..." Violet lifted to blue, dark and wary. "Can I... show you?"

Kaoru frowned, setting her half-empty mug down on the counter. "_Show_ me?"

A clawed hand caught hers.

_"Failure to thrive. Thomas,_ why _didn't you call me?"_

Fragment after fragment; a mosaic of misty memories. Anger. Reconciliation. Warm arms on both sides, but always the odd, chilling sense of withdrawal from Father.

_Mother loved me._

A warm-eyed, wicked smile, as a redheaded woman in a aquamarine one-piece fished a sputtering youngster out of a New York pool. A smile that turned hard-edged and dangerous, as she unleashed a short, sharp lecture on teenage idiots who had cannonballed in almost on top of a tiny four-year-old.

_Kenji loved me._

Night and the taste of blood; leaning back in strong arms as a clawed finger pointed out the stars, naming Aquila, Ursa Major, Orion. A chin moving over his head with a soft purr, eyes like his own taking on a glint of gold at an odd howl in the night breeze. "Wait here, Shinta-chan. Someone needs a lesson in manners."

And he was off, a shadow in the starlight. But he'd be back. He always came back.

_Father... _

Always caution in those large, callused hands. Always a wary look in dark eyes when Father thought he wasn't looking. Always the evasion, when a curious little boy asked about other families with brothers and sisters and why couldn't _he_ have one too...

And the heartbreaking _no!_ when he tried to pick up a shinai.

And... the memories were fraying now, just when Kaoru would have expected them to get clearer. There was only a last shudder of fear, and his parents' controlled panic, and the echo of a familiar, chilling wail...

Kenshin's hand had fallen away from hers. He was huddled against the counter, arms wrapped around himself as if against January chill. "Battousai... thinks that's when my parents went on the run. That... when the IRA came after them, the bastards brought a Banshee." He swallowed hard. "That wail - it goes right up into the ultrasonic."

Kaoru gulped, remembering what Yahiko had told her about the Virus assault in Zip Electronics. "And that hurts you..."

"Kenji would have walked right into it."

Kaoru straightened her spine, denying that air of defeat. "But you didn't see the body!" She frowned. "Seems like you didn't see much of anything."

"I don't know what I might have seen." Kenshin's tone was sober. Tense. "My parents... the first thing I remember them telling me in Ireland was that I'd been ill. Very. Battousai thinks that's true. That's why they could convince me I'd never been Shinta. I couldn't remember. Can't remember, not most of it. There was - damage."

"Damage?" A chill tingled down her spine.

Kenshin's smile had a rare, bitter edge. "Track down a family with a child? Maybe you can, maybe you can't. Track down a pair with a child _who drinks blood_ - easier. Much easier."

Kaoru connected the dots, and leaned on the counter, feeling a little sick herself. "He never told your mother."

"He never even let me have sushi, after we got there." Claws curled into fists. "Funny. I was always sick, off and on, after that. But he was _relieved_."

Kaoru tried not to shudder at the loathing in her friend's voice. "Kenshin-"

"He said he loved my mother, but he never told her why he didn't want another child," Kenshin said tightly. "He... didn't want another like me."

Kaoru shook her head, trying to deny that pain. "You don't know that."

"He had _Yahiko_." Pain bled into aching sorrow. "I don't know what went wrong with Sadako, but I know they meant to have more children after him. She just - couldn't."

"Oh, Kenshin." Reaching out, Kaoru hugged him. And kept holding on, long, aching minutes, as he whispered broken words into her shoulder.

Finally his shoulders fell, and he stepped back, sniffling a little before he found a tissue. "I'm - sorry I got you shot at, that I am."

"Hey, I'm a New Yorker. I can take it." And she _could,_ Kaoru realized, feeling an odd, pure relief finally wash away the numb shock of everything she'd endured at Kanryuu's hands. Because as bad as last night had been, drenched in fear and death and horror you couldn't find in the worst splatterpunk movie...

_When I needed you, you came for me._

"You're my friend," Kaoru said firmly, pinning the redhead with her gaze. "And Yahiko's my student, and I'm not walking away from either of you. Or Misao - though I'm definitely keeping her away from espresso. Sano's not too bad either, the idiot. Even Megumi... well, if anybody's earned another chance, she has." She crossed her arms, and gave him an arch look. "I know what you keep in the fridge. I know you're not hurting anybody to get it. I'm _not_ leaving."

_I know what you are. And... I think I love you._

His smile was shy and sudden as sunrise.

---------

"So you're saying," Jay Berger said expressionlessly, "we have no idea what Battousai really is."

Slurping the mud that passed for office coffee, Petrio DuBuccio looked Target Alpha's NYC Intelligence Coordinator up and down. _"Our homegrown Data." Nope, still not seeing it._

Though in a sense he could see where younger agents might have picked up the idea. Jay was cool, calm and collected at all times, seemed able to recall the most obscure files with the blink of an eye, and had absolutely no sense of humor. And Target Alpha had finally tracked the Borg inspiration to a Hollywood writer who got lost in the wrong part of town.

_Made even wronger by some nitwit wizling who summoned a Krrsd... there's got to be some kind of connection with the Virus. The damn things are just too much alike._

Still. No matter what kind of rumors were out there, he'd seen Jay bleed.

Not letting any of those thoughts show on his face, DuBuccio quirked an eyebrow at his Magical Research Consultant. "Harvey?"

"He failed the leaf test," Harvey Falconi shrugged.

DuBuccio enjoyed the rare pleasure of seeing Jay taken completely and totally off guard. "It what?" Berger said blankly.

"It's the classic test of a Muramasa blade," Harvey explained, leaning on the doorframe. "Put the blade in running water. Drop in a leaf. _Every time,_ that leaf will be cut exactly in half." He glanced at DuBuccio. "Took some wooden tongs and tested it with a few of those Kurogasa thorns before Texas incinerated them. Same result. Doesn't matter what you make them into. Doesn't matter how dull they are. Muramasa blades don't tear off bits. They don't just nick whatever they're up against. They _hate_ life. All they can do is kill." Deceptively mild eyes went back to Jay. "Only when Battousai tried to demonstrate that little fact - in front of a dozen of Holstein's lab rats, no less - _his_ leaf wasn't even scratched."

"Classic test," Jay said flatly.

"Every tale, every legend - every everything," Harvey stated, just as level. "Battousai is not a Muramasa sword-spirit. Period."

Jay frowned. "Then what the hell is it?"

"Good question." DuBuccio tapped an aging manila folder on his already-overflowing desk. "I went back through our records." Decades worth of them, ever since the fledgling Target Alpha agency had gotten the blade in trade from the nervous Brits that would later become MI-5 Section O. "There's nothing in here that contradicts Battousai's original story: that he's a Muramasa blade who got sick of assassinating people and bargained with us just to have access to living bodies."

"Except that Muramasa blades don't get sick of killing." Harvey couldn't hide a shudder. "Even with wood holding those things back - I swear, Petrio, those thorns were pure _hate_."

Jay lifted a thoughtful brow. "I assume this has to do with the deep background you asked for on the Noguchis?"

"In a minute," DuBuccio nodded. "So. Harvey. Forget the Muramasa aspect. I know you got Uramura's initial report-"

"With a few add-ins from my wife, oh yeah." The Crowley looked grimly interested. "She's not taking Nez' death well, Petrio. Not at all."

"I'm going to be assigning Virus-tracking to Makimachi as a long-term project," DuBuccio stated. "We need to source these monsters and flatten them. Even if we have to beg D.C. for the Nowhere Men to get enough firepower. Enough is enough."

"Brilliant." Mild enthusiasm touched Jay's voice. "No one in the lab can trust her, not as long as Shinomori exists, but we know the Kin community hates Virus. Especially Battousai."

"And there may be good reason for that." Harvey's smile had just a trace of smug self-satisfaction.

DuBuccio sat up straight. "You found something."

"Like you said; leave out the Muramasa aspect." Harvey ticked off points on his fingers. "Permanent claws. Blood drinking - not as strong as a vampire, but there. Incredible speed. Chosen human companions seem to be tougher than normal Herds. Magic resistant. That Healing Edge which seems to have shown up out of nowhere; Uramura swears that Animate was half a breath from collapsing into dust, period. And Elementals snuggle up to him like happy cats."

"You _found_ something."

"More like a rumor of something," Harvey cautioned. "Next time you talk to Golgotha, you might want to ask him; a lot of the shreds trace back to Greece and Asia Minor, though the most recent bits show up in stories from Wales and, believe it or not, Japan-"

_"Harvey."_

"Ask him about Dragons, boss."

"...Extinct," DuBuccio finally managed. _Flap flap? Breathe fire? Say what?_

Harvey waggled a hand. "Not _exactly_. Not quite. If the legends are right." He waved a finger. "What I should have said was, ask him about Dragons' teeth."

DuBuccio raised an eyebrow. "Plant, sprout into warriors, throw rocks at so they kill each other?" he said dryly. _Yep, Greek Mythology was good for more than Medusae. Who'd have thought?_

"Not those Dragons' teeth, and not planted in ground," Harvey said firmly. "Planted in people."

"...Go on."

"A lot of this is speculation, but... you know how control teams sometimes figure out they've got a lot more in common with the Kin they're tracking than the regular Joe on the street."

Painfully, DuBuccio did. He'd grown up in Little Italy himself; Kin were just part of the background, like the tongs in Chinatown and the Mafia on the docks. How could you hate all Kin as monsters when you'd seen humans do a lot worse?

"Take that a couple thousand years back, to Dragons and dragon-slayers," Harvey went on. "Add in that there seem to have been lots of different types of Dragons, some of whom may have had more in common with nature spirits like Inuits than the kind of scaly monsters we see in Hollywood computer graphics. Mix with a few Dragon Cassandras who seem to have predicted the human race was going to win, big time. And there just wouldn't be any room left for creatures that couldn't blend in."

"Short version," DuBuccio stated.

"Some dragon-slayers got adopted," Harvey obliged.

Jay stirred. "Voluntarily?"

"Bits I've got, could be either way," the Crowley shrugged. "End result? Legend says there's a few, a _very_ few, Kin out there who still call themselves Dragons. And those rare times they pick up a hatchling, teeth are involved." He shot a glance toward Jay. "Did you know in Japanese, a common nickname for sword is _fang?_"

_Nature spirits._ "Get a Virus into a natural environment, it loses a lot of Edges," DuBuccio breathed. "Telepathy. _Armor_-"

"Hot knife, butter." Harvey's mouth curved into a sardonic smile. "Battousai _hates_ them. More than that, we've got it on record he can _feel_ them, when nobody else can. 'Holes in the weave of the world', he says." A peppered brow lifted. "Sounds like a nature spirit freaking out over the unnatural to me."

_Nature spirits._ DuBuccio wove his fingers together, thinking hard. _But Sagara says when Tomoe Yukishiro, an Inuit, tried to Infect Himura, he went flat-out berserk..._ "Harvey. Ubo bite on top of a Vampire's-"

"Very bad idea," Harvey said bluntly. "The Infections are close enough that the body doesn't know which way to turn. A lot of times the poor bastard just winds up dead."

Which Himura definitely wasn't. _Later,_ DuBuccio told himself. _Let Texas have some time with the data he got from Kamiya. If there's something there to find, he'll find it._ "The Noguchis?"

Jay cleared his throat. "Much as I hate to endorse the use of Holstein's terminology for those who seem to be nexuses of paranormal influence-"

Harvey couldn't choke back a laugh. "They were weirdness magnets?"

"Historically and hereditarily," Jay stated flatly. "Starting with Kenji Noguchi. Who got in through Ellis Island on an Irish passport."

"With a name like Kenji Noguchi?" DuBuccio raised a skeptical eyebrow.

The tiniest of smirks seemed to flicker across Jay's face. "Red hair, blue eyes, and freckles."

_Battousai's hosts all have red hair... _DuBuccio waved a hand, _go on_.

Jay held up one of the newfangled tiny disk drives that always seemed to make coffee taste even worse. "The details." Setting it down on one of his boss' more stable paper stacks, he gave a minuscule shrug. "In brief, the Kin community seems to have treated the Noguchi family with all the respect due concertina wire. Kenji appears to have been a very moral, very _lethal_ Kin who did not take 'oops' for an answer."

"Oh?" DuBuccio asked neutrally.

Jay nodded toward the disk. "There's at least one report of an attempted Red Moonrise takeover of an NYC preschool. Target Alpha interrogations of a surviving were-bear cell member says the last thing he remembers is trying to break "this spooky little violet-eyed Herd larvae who fuckin' _wouldn't_ cry". And then everything went black." A twitch of a smile. "Our report says we found him beheaded."

Harvey was a little white around the eyes. "And the rest of his cell?"

"Ashes."

"I take it one of those preschoolers was Shinta Noguchi?" DuBuccio waited for Jay's slight nod, and frowned. "You say, _appears to have been_."

"The reports lack depth," Jay said clinically. _Before I took over the office,_ hung implicit in the air. "But Kenji appears to have vanished from the Kin scene on or about the date the Noguchis themselves went into hiding." He lifted an impressed brow. "The casualty count was enough to severely dent local IRA fundraising for most of a year."

"Huh." Looking aside, DuBuccio mulled that thought, considering it in light of what he had done, what he had yet to do.

"Petrio." Jay looked serious. "While on the record I have no opinion on your choice of ENO agents beyond their likely security risk, unofficially I have to express doubt that Battousai will exert any level of control on the surviving Oniwabanshuu. Their recorded actions to this point have been neutral to distinctly anti-human in nature. And even if he were paying them, he could never match the level of funds Kanryuu was able to provide."

"He's not paying them in cash." DuBuccio put his thoughts together with care; Jay tried hard, but the man hadn't been raised Crowley. He didn't _feel_ the net of honor and obligation that tied the more traditional Kin together; that affected even the youngest upstarts, who knew that blatant violations of Kin custom would earn a smack-down from the nearest peeved Elder. "Shinomori is Makimachi's relative. Battousai is her friend. They're going to have to work out who's got what claim under what conditions, or any Kin who hates either of them will see her as dinner with perks. And Battousai won't stand for that. He _will_ keep track of Shinomori, he _will_ know where to find the guy - more or less - and he _will_ see that the bastard adheres to acceptable behavior. Or else."

"_I_ don't know where to find the guy," Jay said flatly.

"'Course not," Harvey stuck in. "He's a ninja. They're like quantum particles. You either know where they've been, or where they're going. Not both." At Jay's glare, he shrugged. "Logic chain, Jay. Misao's got a will stubborn as a brick wall. And Shinomori put enough effort into Mesmerizing her to get her to break lab security. He's not going to walk away from an asset like that."

"And if Makimachi's out of the equation?" Jay said clinically.

_He would think of that._ "Battousai got them out of that mess before Virus could kill them," DuBuccio pointed out. "Or before we could. They _owe_ him. They're not going far until they find a way to even up."

"I don't like it."

"I never said I liked it," DuBuccio said honestly. "But Kanryuu is toast. Spider's Web is off the streets. And we kicked serious Virus ass. All in all, I'd call that a good night."

With an acknowledging nod, Jay left.

Harvey made sure the door was shut behind him, then made a quick, furtive movement with his hand. "Spider's Web is off the streets, hmm?"

Despite the silence charm he knew the Crowley had just stuck on the door, DuBuccio winced. _Damn. If Harvey figured it out-_

"You didn't _officially_ tell Jay that Takani was involved, so he doesn't have to do anything about it," Harvey noted. "Officially."

"Takani?" DuBuccio shrugged. "Involved?"

"Drugs magically treated not to show up on tests?" Harvey shot back, just as level. "The Oniwabanshuu themselves sent to get her back?"

"And don't forget Virus," DuBuccio stated flatly. "We may have a Virus-lure now. Under the watchful eye of one of the few creatures in the Apple those metal monsters have never been able to take down. I'm _not_ giving that up. Not if I don't have to."

"Spider's Web," Harvey said flatly.

"Will never be made again."

Harvey arched a peppered brow. "Battousai said that, did he?"

"Has he ever lied to us?" DuBuccio waved off what he knew was coming. "Outside the leaf thing. Nobody would pull that in front of a whole lab if he thought it wouldn't work."

"Point," Harvey admitted. "What else?" He gave DuBuccio a wry look as the deputy director hesitated. "Come on, Petrio. Logic is good, logic is dandy - but you'd need a lot more than logic to put a new ENO on the payroll. Especially one who's currently shielding a drug-dealing Witch; one of our own who turned traitor, willing or not; two Kin directly involved in the deaths of Target Alpha agents..." Running out of fingers, the Crowley looked up. "What else have I missed?"

"We owe him," DuBuccio said quietly.

"Oh yeah?"

"Damn it, we do!" DuBuccio exploded. "Weirdness magnet or not, the guy was making a fair living until he picked up Battousai to keep from being a wolf snack. Since then, he's lost his apartment, his old life, and damn near his little brother. _And_ his girlfriend, if what I hear about Kamiya is right. He's holding his shop together on sweat and bubble gum; he _won't_ leave Sagara without backup, and Kin just don't keep off-business hours. Add that to the expenses of us trashing the place, and then Virus and the cops-" he flung out empty hands, at a loss for words. "He's willing to come in on our side. Be Sagara's partner on a permanent basis. Least we can do is meet him halfway."

"Not to mention, it's the only way the Agency can keep any control over that sword, now that it's with its hereditary owner," Harvey mused. "But if he's going to be an agent, officially... what happens to _Wonderful Things?_"

DuBuccio grinned.

---------

Megumi shook the intricate hairpin in her hand, noting how the lengths of white and purple paper triangles mimicked a spray of wisteria blooms. After three days cooped up and healing in Kaoru's apartment, even this taste of New York's glitz and glamour was like water in the desert. "We're supplying props for _The Mikado?_"

"Every year," Kenshin said happily. Red, gold, and green glimmered in stray sunlight from the front windows as he laid another hairpin down, packing it into a box with swift, practiced movements. "We generally end up supplying Montgomery for _Madame Butterfly_, too, but he always thinks he can get a better price _and_ better quality somewhere else. So just take it in stride when he comes in here, pokes through everything, sniffs, and leaves. He'll be back."

_Thump. Scrape. Screeek!_

The redhead winced, rubbing his ears. Megumi took the noises of Yahiko and the Rooster-head getting the new back door up in stride, luxuriating in the almost-forgotten feeling of safety.

_Wards,_ she thought with a silent sigh of relief, tasting that tingle of magic laced through the shop, thick as chocolate mousse. _Nothing's getting in here short of blowing the whole place to hell._

Which she wouldn't put past Virus. But at least she'd have fair warning first.

Quiet tapping drew Megumi's eyes back to a happily humming lab tech tucked in a corner, braid flicked back over her shoulder as she hit _enter._ One hand snatched up the folded pamphlet tucked into her army-olive backpack, and Misao leaned back to read it, letting her program run. And giggled.

Megumi craned her head to read the title; nice, subtly Gothic lettering, set against a background of starry sky. _"Rendezvous After Dark: A LARP Newsletter."_ She gave Kenshin a wry look. "Darrow works fast."

"Seems Katsu's been working on the idea off and on for a while," the redhead smiled. "All he needed was someone to bounce ideas off of. Whatever that means." He raised his voice slightly. "Anything good?"

"Inquisition strike team leader Uramura," Misao snickered.

Kenshin blinked.

Megumi picked her jaw up, and tried to wipe the stunned look off her face. "He didn't!"

"Oh yeah." Nursing a skinned knuckle, Sano swaggered in from the back, waving a screwdriver to punctuate his point. "Katsu called me with a little preview before they printed; I heard Tyler still arguing a few fine points in the background. They're going to make it look like a White Wolf LARP with serious in-house rule mods-"

Megumi rolled her eyes. "English?"

"Classic supernatural role-playing game," Yahiko stuck in, dropping the shop toolbox with a rattle. Jumping a little, he snatched the screwdriver before Sano could poke it through a lampshade. "They've got werewolves, vampires, ghosts, sorcerers, weird fairies-"

"No Wyghts, though," Sano noted.

"Mummies," Yahiko pointed out. "And heck, Wyghts look just like mummies without-"

"_No_ Ace bandage jokes, kid. _Bad_ idea."

"Don't call me kid!"

"He's serious, Yahiko-kun. The last person to bring up that resemblance around a bunch of Wyghts was found strangled to death. With an Ace bandage." Shaking his head, Kenshin raised a brow at Misao. "Target Alpha is the Inquisition?"

"Natasha got listed as Arcanum," Misao nodded, still grinning.

"Ooo, ow." Sano licked his fingertip to mark an imaginary point in mid-air. "Score!" At Kenshin's puzzled look, he grinned. "Later."

"The Commune's down as the Camarilla, Red Moonrise as the Sabbat, Virus as constructs of the Technocracy..."

"Scarily accurate." If Sano grinned any wider, he was going to crack his face in half.

"And Aoshi-san got rescued from Domination by a Kitsune Kinfolk hedge-wizard wiping out the evil Hermetic Mage holding his Blood Bond!" Jumping up, Misao threw herself into Kenshin's arms.

"Oro?"

"Yeah!" Yahiko thrust a fist into the air. "Path of Shape-shifting fits with the claws, Healing, right, maybe a Numina for the speed-"

Peering around a blue-black braid as he tried to set Misao down, Kenshin raised an eyebrow at his little brother. "Just _what_ have you been doing in your spare time?"

"Um... research?"

Kenshin raised the other brow.

"I'm serious!" Yahiko crossed his arms. "Maybe these guys don't have lots of cash to throw around, but they _love_ having just the right stuff for game atmosphere. And we've got it."

"Good idea," Kenshin nodded. Cast a look Megumi's way. "Though it seems some aren't here for games at all."

"No," she admitted, scanning the shelves. Furniture, lamps, mirrors, yes; also herbs, essences, handmade paper, and crafted items galore. Everything a spell-flinger could ask for... at least, those that didn't indulge in the dark magic of living sacrifices.

"I didn't know," Kenshin said quietly.

Megumi gave him a fox's smile. "Dullahan's family ran this shop under the noses of the biggest Clave on the East Coast without getting caught. How could you know?"

"Well, Target Alpha's _going_ to know now," Sano said grimly. Stopped, and backpedaled. "Ah... Kenshin did tell you..."

"That the shop's going to keep a red-flag list from now on?" Megumi gave him a dry smile. "It's what I would do if I were running the place, and knew which of my customers had a habit of demon-raising."

"So it doesn't bother you?" Sanosuke said warily.

"I didn't say that." Megumi heard the ice in her voice, didn't try to warm it. "They're Target Alpha. I don't trust them." She dropped a wink to the redhead. "But I trust you."

"Um..."

_Ooo, he blushes!_ She added a little sparkle to her smile, watching red flush the swordsman's cheeks.

"That's - good," Kenshin managed, ducking aside from her gaze as if it were a Medusa's. "Because - you will be. Running the shop, that is. When I'm not here. Which I'm not sure when that will be, but given Sano's back on call, it could be anytime-" His head jerked up, and she all but heard his sigh of relief. "And it's time to open, I think someone's coming..."

"Quit playing with the poor guy," Sano grumbled under his breath, twirling the screwdriver as if he'd like to plant it somewhere painful. "Battousai's been celibate for at least a decade. And Kenshin hasn't even gotten up the nerve to ask Kaoru out on a date yet."

"Really?" Megumi gave him a cat with canary smile. "Fair game, then."

"His last girlfriend tried to _eat_ him," Yahiko said darkly.

_Details, details._ It wasn't as if she planned anything serious. But he was just so sweet, and kind... and simply interesting to watch. Most Kin never sensed magic crash and surge around them, fueling their abilities even as it denied them access to the pure strength of spells.

Most Kin. But not Kenshin. Magic flowed through him, with him; not settling into the fixed patterns of a spellcaster, but flexing and changeable as the graceful 3-D videogame of the city's peregrines hunting through concrete canyons.

_How does he do that?_

"That was Yukishiro, right?" Clutching her computer, Misao shuddered. "You should see her record, Sano. It's _scary_."

"Is?" Sano said pointedly.

Yahiko went white, then green. "She's still out there?"

Misao nodded. "Vesalius Clinic, according to the last report- just where do you think _you're_ going?"

"Um..." The kid's gaze slid toward Sano.

"The stuff in my trunk's for emergencies." The agent gave him a hard look. "And this is _not_ an emergency. Yet."

"But she-"

"Got her head handed to her, last time she messed with your brother. Almost literally." Sano shook his head. "Uh-uh. Let it go. New York's a big place. Could go the rest of your life without ever crossing paths with her again."

Yahiko raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Okay; given _your_ family's luck, that's not likely," Sano admitted. "But think about it. You want to go after her now, in the middle of a clinic that's got some of the nastier Kin in the Apple snatching people to feed it, when your brother's still wrapping his mind around the fact that yes, he _can_ kill people - or do you want to wait?"

"I-"

"'Cause if you _wait,_" Sanosuke cut him off, "you give us time to get Target Alpha on our side. You give us time to get the Commune on our side; Golgotha's already made it clear _he_ thinks your brother's on the side of the angels, which is nothing to sneeze at. You give us time to get this mess with Shinomori and Misao straightened out - and let me tell you, kid, if I were going after somebody in as tight with Red Moonrise as the Yukishiros are, I'd _want_ Itachi-jou backing me up on the information superhighway."

"Don't call me kid!"

"Don't call me Weasel Girl!"

Sano dodged two small fists, and gave the kid a serious look. "And even if none of that matters..." He nodded toward the front door.

"Er... Miss Kaoru, good morning..."

"It's just Kaoru, Kenshin. You know that." The young woman was standing just inside the shop's front door, breathing a little hard, poised on one foot to leap back out into the flow of the sidewalk. Her gym bag was slung over her shoulder, odd contrast to her dark blue professional-casual suit and pale blue shirt. "Can't stay long - data entry job, have to get there on time - Yahiko's going to be at practice tonight?"

"If I have to drag him; that he will." Violet watched her, shy and wary. "Would you be interested in stopping by for dinner tonight? It's as easy to make enough for six as five... well, perhaps eight, Dr. Gensai asked if Ayame and Suzume would be welcome..."

_A hole in their wall with only a shoji to keep them apart, and he has to invite her to dinner?_ Megumi tried not to shake her head. _That man is too shy for his own good._

Kaoru gave him a considering look. "Are _you_ going to be at practice?"

"I'm not familiar with shinai, that I am not-" Kenshin swallowed visibly, and managed a weak smile. "I will - try, Kaoru-dono."

"Great!" Smiling, she stepped in and planted a quick kiss on his cheek, then touched his hand and dashed out the door. "See you tonight!"

Dazed, Kenshin stood there blinking in the sunshine.

"If you wait, you give your brother time to be happy," Sano said softly. "Trust me, kid. That's worth more than _any_ kind of revenge."

Intrigued, Megumi gave the rooster-head another look. "Well. Maybe there is more to that head of yours than hair."

"Why, you-"

She stuck out her tongue as he fumed, giggling inside. And then out loud, as Misao turned pink with stifled laughter and Yahiko lost the battle with his own snickers.

_Kanryuu is gone,_ Megumi thought, as Kenshin shook off his daze and walked back toward them, still smiling._ I have my life back. I have my_ soul _back._

Anything could happen now.

And when it did, she'd hold onto this. Laughter. And sunlight.

_I am Megumi Takani. Healer. Shopkeeper. Witch of New York._

_And I will live free._

---------

Translations and info:

_Clean and floss_ - to make a supernatural death appear normal and explainable.

_Ekimmu_ - Kin created when somebody vows to look after a grave and then fails to; the rotted corpse rises as Kin. Often anti-human.

_Hisofu_ - "great-grandfather".

_Krrsd_ - a sort of insectoid metal demons, sometimes summoned by dark magic-workers.

_LARP_ - Live Action Role-Playing.

_Nowhere Men_ - the U.S. Army's 151st Airborne Division, whose combat troops are entirely Kin.

_Soresu_ - form III lightsaber fighting, considered the best defense against blaster bolts.

What bound Aoshi was a "poison ring": platinum, iolite as the visible stone, the rest of the binding materials hidden in the sealed compartment under the setting. Platinum gives permanence to relationships (binds the spell effect). Iolite is a stone of finding, preventing the wearer from becoming lost. (Aoshi can't "get lost" from the position as Kanryuu's head of security no matter how he tries.) It's also a polarizer. Yep - dissociative identity time!

As enchanted powders:

Prehnite and Iolite - influence and control over entities.

Jet - control over life, thoughts, and feelings.

Lodestone - to draw the wearer back.

Amethyst - integrates emotional, mental and spiritual bodies to function as a single unit. So as the other components bind the spirit, they also bind the mind and emotions.

Epidote - protection against conflicting circumstances. Holds the dissociation intact.

Sardonyx - desired results in legal and contractual agreements.

Spinel - sets the ego aside.

All told, Shinomori's not brainwashed; the Okashira is technically in his right mind. It's just that the part of that right mind that's _Aoshi_ is locked in a closet. He can't do anything against the bounds of his contract - and he can't take the ring off.

New Kin Race: **Dragon**

**Ability Modifiers:** +5 STR+20 DEX+5 FIT+5 WILL

**Racial Edges:** Alter Form (ki distraction/ illusion, much like Rakshasa; can be seen through under certain circumstances), Claws (permanent, only hidden by illusion), Healing, Infection (special, see below), Sense Acuity, Shunt.

**Beginning Edges:** Drain (blood), Speed, Ki-sense.

Common Edges: Locate Human, Nocturnal Vision.

**Flaws:** Environmental Harm (ultrasonics, 5 SP/BT).

Diet Supplement: Human or animal blood, 20 SP/week to avoid losing FIT to starvation.

Compulsion: Flamboyant/archaic dress and behavior, carrying at least one edged weapon.

Special: Unable to acquire Armor Edge. A Dragon can dodge, parry, and run like hell _not_ to get hit - but like the near-human Sorcerers, _if_ they get hit, it _hurts._

Ki-sense: modified Danger Sense/Empathy. In a sense ki is the Aura, and as such is unique and recognizable as found in Aura Sight.

Infection: Dragons have a _very_ hard time Infecting humans, and almost never do so accidentally. Drain alone will not suffice. The would-be "cub" must have a strong and malleable ki (high MA) and an equally strong will to live (high WILL). The Dragon must then remain in close contact with the cub until the Infection is complete; this is most easily accomplished by leaving one of its own fangs in the human's flesh (the canine tooth grows back, but yes, it _does_ hurt, and definitely impairs Draining for a few nights), where it will dissolve over several days. Or weeks. Or longer. During this period of time, the Infected human will be increasingly edgy (as ki-sense begins to activate) and clingy (instinct driving it towards its new "parent" - though in the absence of the infecting Dragon, other relationships will find themselves with a suddenly-Velcro friend, lover, or family member).

Removing the fang before it dissolves may cause the Infection to fail (chance equal to the percent of fang left intact). Despite careful choice and ferocious protection of potential cubs, Dragons are rare. They are inter-fertile with humans, and can produce children - who will be humans with high MA and WILL, but usually _not_ Dragons, unless Infected later.

New Combat Skill: Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu (DEX). Unusable to those without ki-sense, and not a good idea for ordinary humans, given the wear and tear on muscles and joints forced to supernatural speed and pinpoint precision. (1 SP/night of use, minimum. Note most humans can heal about 1-4 SP per night unwounded; Kin can usually heal more. Long-term use, and/or multiple fights without rest, could reasonably induce FIT damage.)

On the upside, besides the obvious lethal sword-skills, this sword school's training, speed, and mastery of one's own ki render the user _completely unaffected_ by opponents' Armor Edge, or Deflections. A nasty surprise to those who think it's just an enchanted sword at work...


End file.
